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The Classic of Spiritism 



The 

Classic of Spiritism 



BY 

lucy Mcdowell milburn 



11 The Bible surety is the classic of Spiritism" 

J.A.M. 




THE DACROW CORPORATION, Publishers 

347 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 

LONDON: KEGAX, PAUL. TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD. 

1922 






Copyrighted, 1922, by 
Lucy McDowell Milburv 



©CI.A677752 

Printed in the United States of America 

JUL 20 1922 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

Foreword ..... 

I Psychic Waves .... 

II Oppositions to Spiritism 

III Psychics of To-day and Yesterday 

IV Spiritism in the Bible 

V How to Unfold Our Higher Senses 

VI The Interior Senses . 

VII [ram Sight and Hearing 

VIII PSYCHOGRAPHY 

IX Celestial Music 

X Angelophanies . 

XI Sr PERFORCE 

. 

XIII SURRMl 

XIV Ministerinc Angels 
XV Spiritual 

XVI Evocatic 

XVII Healing . . 

XVIII Dreams and Visions . 



page 



5 

14 

27 

36 

49 

55 

64 

72 

79 

U 

98 

109 

119 

126 

136 

146 

157 



XIX Trance 

XX Possession and Obsession 

XXI The Spirit's Return . 

XXII Our Bodies 

XXIII The Supreme Psychic 

XXIV The Oldest Religion . 
XXV The Final Religion . 

Index 



167 
172 
181 
186 

197 
205 
212 
221 



FOREWORD 

This book is addressed to all persons interested in the 
history of the development of spiritualism, particularly to the 
professed believers in the Bible who have shut their eyes and 
ears to its deeper teachings, and opposed with asperity those 
who dare use their higher senses. 

It does not seem illogical for that great institutional Church 
which keeps so much lore locked in its temples, and which 
feeds the multitude on legends, reserving the Holy Book for 
the favoured few, to keep the crowd in the outer courts, or 
it in the temple, to pull the curtains of the sanctuary close 
about the mystery. Though it seems strange that this 
powerful organization which has preserved the wisdom of 
the past to such a degree, and has had in its ranks hosts of 
saints and martyrs who have borne witness to the truth that 
communication with the >pirit world is possible and right, 
should oppose the great psychic wave now spreading over all 
this earth. 

Not all the saints or souls who have had celestial vision 
have been of the hierarchy. Many have come from the 
peasant class, entirely uneducated in learning of this world. 
Joan of Arc and Bernadette of Lourdes are shining examples 
of the fact that the Lord sometimes gives great gifts to those 
whom the world adjudges poor and also that celestial visitors 
do not belong to a past generation. To-day the poor peasant 
girl, Joan of Arc, is a saint, and Lourdes is visited by thou- 

(v) 



vi FOREWORD 

sands of pilgrims every year who believe that Bernadette 
found the wonderful spring through direct communication 
from the Blessed Virgin. Ann-Catherine Emmerich, another 
poor peasant girl, is now on the calendar of the saints. How 
many know that she was a great trance medium of the 19th 
century? Her messages from the Spheres were faithfully 
recorded by her priest, and her life is most interesting and 
convincing. 

But if it is logical for the " Mother Church " to hide the 
truth of intercommunion from her babes, of whom she has 
millions, probably not ready for strong food, it is certainly 
illogical and more than strange that those Churches that 
base their belief upon the Bible, the classic of spiritism, 
that consider it the Word of God, and even cling to the 
theory of " verbal inspiration " (some even insisting on the 
inerrancy of the Scripture), should shut their eyes and ears 
and juggle with their reason and read with the curtain 
drawn so tightly over their brains, that they are like trees 
walking. If the Master were on earth to-day might he not 
say : Oh blind and perserve generation ? 

If all those who call themselves Christians; if all those 
who seek light would but read the Bible without prejudice, 
but digest the words of Jesus, they would soon see that God 
has not left his children in ignorance of the way to com- 
municate with him through his holy angels; they would 
soon learn that his Ministers of Light now, as in times of old, 
are leading, helping, teaching those who ask their aid. 

If we only believe that with God all things are possible, 
then follow the teachings of the Master, we surely shall not 
only know the doctrine, but be able to do great things. Jesus 
of Nazareth is not only the Saviour of the world, the great 
example for mankind to follow, but he is the greatest psychic 
ever on this plane of existence, and the greatest spiritistic 
teacher. He not only shows the way, he demonstrates that 
inter-communication with those gone Before is right. Did he 



FOREWORD vii 

not take three of his chosen disciples to the Mount and let 
them see and hear him talk with Moses and Elijah. (Matt. 
17, 1-3; Mark 9, 2-13; Luke 9, 28-36.) Although the 
teachings of Jesus have been hedged about with dogmas and 
theological treatises, and the theologians have raised a mighty 
wall about the Garden of God, so that many of his dear loving 
children do not as yet see the far country, yet, as the walls 
of Jericho fell, when the trumpets blew and the people 
shouted, so now, when many sorrowing souls are crying 
aloud for help, the walls of prejudice that hide the sanctuary 
shall fall. The curtains that veil the sacred ark shall be rent, 
as was the veil of the temple centuries ago, for the Lord's 
arm is not shortened, and many on this side and on that 
are making ready to tear away the veil. 



I 

THE PSYCHIC WAVES 

For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the 
Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah, xi., 9. 



Just as art after long burials has had its renaissances, so 
spiritism has had its recurrent resurrections, and always 
with added force. There has been no time since man came 
to dwell upon this planet, as least within historic survey, 
that there have not been seers and seeresses. Though just 
as night and day, and summer and winter alternate, so there 
have been periods when the light has been bright and the 
voice clear, and then ag 1 the dark predominated, when 

the heavenly visitants were not seen, and the angel choirs 
were not heard. 

The times of cessation of oracles are usually those where 
man has turned all his forces to the material ; where greed 
and rapine seem to rule the world — then come great wars. 
But just as after a heavy storm, where dark clouds over- 
shadow the earth, and lightning destroys, comes a gentle rain 
and the atmosphere clears, and the sun shines forth brighter 
than before, so after these dark days of earth life, wherein 
man kills his brother man, forgetful of his Creator, there 
suddenly coim ^ r ht light shining through the clouds. 

This was so in the early days of the world; it is so now. 

It was after Abram had slain the kings in the Valley of 
Shaveh that Melchizedeck blessed him, and that the word of 



2 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

the Lord came to him in a vision. It was after Joseph had 
been sold by his brethren and had been in prison that he 
was brought before Pharaoh and made ruler of the land of 
Egypt. It was after long years of suffering in bondage in 
Egypt that a man of marvellous psychic power came to free 
his people and lead them towards the Land of Promise. It 
was after Daniel had been in the lion's den that Darius wrote: 

Unto all people, nations, and languages, that 
dwell in all the earth : Peace be multiplied unto you. 

Dan. vi., 25. 

As in art, so in psychism there are waves and then waves. 
There is an ebb and flow of all the life forces which are 
continually coming to us on the interstellar ether. In Egypt, 
in Chaldea, in Babylon, in Syria, in India, in China, in Japan 
and Greece and Rome there have been times of darkness and 
times of light. Although in the darkest days a single prophet 
or seer may arise, just as a shooting star on a winter's night, 
yet only in the bright eras do many inspired men arise, and 
in each succeeding age of light there are more who know 
from whence they came — more made ready to receive the 
word — then in many places teachers and prophets are born. 

The wave of psychism now spreading over the world will 
rise higher, and spread over more places, than any such wave 
heretofore ; yes, cover more space even than the great wave 
of the first century, which brought in the New Dispensation. 

There is a march of progress in spiritual unfolding, and the 
progress is always there, though it sometimes seems to be 
gone, for the ebb is so great that we lo^e sight of the wave 
for a time. When an engine is going down grade it is pro- 
gressing as surely as when it is climbing up grade. The law 
of light seems to be the same ; it climbs down and it climbs 
up as it comes to us in waves, but there is never retrograde, 
for, since God's fiat that the light should come forth from the 
dark, it has been unceasingly progressing. Clouds often 



THE PSYCHIC WAVES 3 

obscure the light of day, so opinions and prejudices, in the 
mind of man, render him unfit to* receive the light of intellec- 
tual perception. 

As the physical form of man is first fashioned in the dark 
womb, so the spiritual body comes forth only after many 
dark nights. St. John of the Cross wrote most fully on the 
subject of this dark night wherein the soul is gestated, and 
made ready for its high mission. St. Therese often felt this 
deep dark cloud and the pains of spiritual birth; she was 
prone to refer all of her temptations to the devil, not remem- 
bering that God, in His Holy Word, has said : 

I form the light and create darkness. I make 
peace and create evil : I, the Lord, do all these 
things. Isa. xlv., 7. 

and that the Master bids us ask the Father to lead us not 
into temptation but to deliver us from evil; yet the Holy 
One was tempted and grew strong, for, 

Temptation to the human soul 
Is what the wind is to the trees. 

All down the ages in sacred and secular history we see that 
the great, strong, spiritual men and women have been sub- 
jected to waves of doubt before vision, to waves of depression 
before the joy of perception, to sorrow and grief, often- 
times to physical pain and mental anguish before the realisa- 
tion of light in the soul, that light that lighteth every man 
when he has dispelled the clouds of night enough to see the 
rising sun, when he has slain the pythons within his chamber 
walls and emerged into the clear light of day. In St. Dun- 
stan's life this dark night is allegorically spoken of as a 
beautiful woman. Luther and Bunyan and Fox all had their 
combat with what to them seemed the evil one. Each 
human spirit has a fight to make, an enemy in the garrison 
of the soul to slay, a load to lift, a grief to bear, a prejudice to 
lay aside, not only once in a lifetime, but over and over again. 



4 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

In the climbing of the mountain of life therfe are always 
depressions and then again depressions. As each higher 
level is reached the view grows plainer, the light brighter; 
but as night follows day, and as there are years of famine as 
well as years of plenty, and ages of devastation and destruc- 
tion preceding ages of upbuilding and preservation, so ever 
the microcosm follows the pattern of the macrocosm, and 
each child of God has his hour, his day, his years, wherein, by 
means of the dark nights of his soul, he is helped in his 
progress toward the summit of the mountain of God. And 
just as flowers need to be bruised ere they give forth their 
rarest perfume, so man needs sorrow and suffering to bring 
out the spiritual gifts. And the races of the earth must 
be pounded and torn, and earth itself ploughed and har- 
rowed before the light can percolate the clay. 

In these days, when many brave souls have laid down 
their lives for liberty, when the earth has been ploughed with 
cannon balls and her fields wetted with her children's blood, 
can we doubt, after the dark night wherein there has been 
such a violent storm, where sorrow has thrown her black veil 
over so many homes and the sword has pierced so many 
hearts, that, as thn morning breaks, more of God's children 
than ever before will raise the curtains to see the light, will 
pray by the open window, as Daniel did of old, pray not only 
with faith in the strong arm of the Father, but without fear, 
knowing that a time is soon coming when the lion and the 
lamb shall lie down together, trusting that the one God who 
opened the heavens for rain, who is daily opening the hearts 
of men to help their brothers, will lighten their minds so that 
the giants of ignorance and self-aggrandizement will be slain, 
and over their graves be placed the words, "Light and Love." 
For is it not written : 



All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the 
Lord. Num. xiv., 21. 



II 

OPPOSITIONS TO SPIRITISM 

As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just; 
because I seek not mine own will, but the will of 
the Father which hath sent me. John v., 30. 

"The source of our error, then, when we mistake 
the extraordinary for the miraculous, is far more 
frequently in our ignorance of what has been than 
in our false conceptions of what may be." 

Robert Dale Owen. 



Ignorance, which the poet aptly calls, " Dark Daughter of 
night," is for ever objecting to anything new. This is very 
natural, for just as light dissipates darkness, so knowledge 
slays ignorance, and it is in the nature of everything to hold 
on to life. Very thin clouds drop gentle showers quite easily, 
but the heavy black clouds need lightning to break them, and 
how they roar before they give up their floods ! So with 
man. The ignorant man often cherishes his ignorance as an 
integral part of himself; where it is very dense, doubtless it 
does hurt to have knowledge driven in. Of all forms of 
ignorance, prejudice is the most difficult to overcome. It is 
often an inheritance, and is nursed in some families. Children 
are fed on prejudices, until such a fence is formed about the 
child's garden that he mistakes shadows for realities, letting 
opinions guide him instead of wisdom. His parents, ignorant 
of the teachings of Scripture, are of the opinion that all 

5 



6 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

psychic manifestations arte harmful. These opionated persons 
feel sure that any visions their children may have are " just 
imagination. " They do not know the office of the imagina- 
tion ; it is a word they use in their ignorance of the psychic 
faculties. If the child is very gifted, and sees much that his 
seniors do not, a physician is called in, who probably says, 
" Hallucinations," warns the parents to be very careful, 
and often prescribes quite the wrong course of treatment for 
this sensitive little one. As ignorance is largely accountable 
for malnutrition of infants, and tends to put all children's 
minds into the same mould and thwart the growth of genius, 
so ignorance, opposing itself to spiritistic influence and cul- 
ture, retards the development of the spiritual nature of man. 
It would be foolish to expect ignorance to be wise ; when it 
becomes wise, ignorance vanishes. 

Prejudice is not confined to those usually considered 
ignorant. It rules even the mind of men of science, men 
supposed to be learned, who are often highly developed 
intellectually. The light which they hold near, which seems 
to them the best, obscures the higher light, just as the moon 
may eclipse the sun. These men of science, working steadily, 
conscientiously, with the lesser light, are opposed to anything 
that does not work into their pattern, and will not see a vision 
they cannot explain in terms of matter, so — the scientist 
is usually opposed to spiritism. Only in rare cases has the 
man of science undertaken any elucidation of the cases 
presented to him ; as a rule he ignores the Bible, not seeing 
the truth in its rare imagery, not feeling the spirit of its 
teachings, and having no poetic insight, he dismisses the 
Hebrew scriptures as unscientific, the New Testament as a 
mass of fiction, for miracle, to his mind, means setting aside 
law. " Not only is the modern scientific world almost 
unanimous in asserting the unbroken prevalence of law, but 
Protestant divines are gradually assenting to the view that 
what have been called miracles were but the result of laws 



OPPOSITIONS TO SPIRITISM 7 

not known, or imperfectly known, to the witnesses." (Robert 
Dale Owen, The Debatable Land, p. 148.) 

As law is one of his gods, it is quite natural that the scientist 
should be opposed to spiritism. " Christianity does not call 
upon us to believe in any exception to the universal prevalence 
and power of law." (Argyll, The Reign of Law, p. 53.) 

There are minds so undeveloped on their spiritual side 
they are unable to believe in anything they cannot handle or 
see. They are self-satisfied, hence do not see God. We do 
not expect the acorn in the ground, even though it potentially 
holds a forest, to reach out for the sun. Not until the blade 
stage does any seed take on colour from the sun, which has 
warmed it in the earth and helped it to sprout. Then it is 
long after the blade is seen that the full corn in the ear comes. 
So we see that men are infidel because their spirits are still 
beneath the ground. They may be making good strong roots, 
but the time has not come for their blade to burst through 
the clay. Jesus refers to these men when he says: 

And their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes 
they have closed, lest at any time they should see 
with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should 
understand with their hearts, and should be con- 
verted. Matt, xiii., 15. 

We should not expect the infidel to favour spiritism. It 
is far beyond his feeble God nature. He must first come to 
believe in his own kinship with God before he will desire to 
be led by Him or ministered unto by God's holy angels. Yet 
even the infidel, deepest dyed in his unbelief, is led, is helped 
though he may be no more aware of it than is the seed in the 
flower pot aware that it is being watered. Infidelity we need 
not fight. God, in His own good time, will light the candle 
of the man still immersed in matter. 

The only opposition to spiritism that is illogical is that of 
orthodoxy. It is the opposition of the child to the parent. 
It is an internecine battle waged between the sons of God 



8 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

still on earth and those gone forth from the flesh to live in 
larger mansions. It is passing strange that the Mother 
Church, who has conserved so much of spiritistic teaching, 
who has had within her folds so many and such great psychics 
all through the ages, who has taught her children to commune 
with the saints and to pray to the Virgin, should in these 
latter days, this materialistic age, when more than ever we 
need to demonstrate immortality, suddenly decide that the 
manifestations of spirit power which we see around us are 
all the works of the devil, all managed by evil spirits. Does 
the Mother Church forget the injunction of the Apostle John 
to test the spirits? He does not say: Shut the door of 
communication, but advocates investigation. 

Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether 
they are of God, because many false prophets are 
gone out into the world. I. John iv., i. 

This is surely good advice. We cannot believe all we hear 
and see or read on the earth plane, and men gone hence are 
not greatly changed at once, so, of course, there are good and 
bad, wise and foolish spirits trying to communicate with us. 
It takes a special gift to be able to discern spirits. Does not 
Paul put this gift on the same plane as that of prophecy and 
preaching ? 

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of 
wisdom ; to another the word of knowledge by the 
same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; 
to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit ; 
to another the working of miracles; to another 
prophecy ; to another discerning of spirits. 

I. Cor. xii., 8-10. 

Did not Peter, the great father of the Catholic Church, 
encourage spiritistic communication and obey the messages 
sent by angel guides? 



OPPOSITIONS TO SPIRITISM 9 

But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning 
and expounded it by order unto them, saying, 
I was in the city of Joffa praying: and in a trance 
I saw a vision. . . . 

And I heard a voice saying unto me: Arise, 
Peter ; slay and eat. . . . 

And the Spirit bade me go with them. 

Acts xi., 4-12. 

How do the saints differ from other mortal people except 
in the matter of vision and other psychic powers? The 
church that has fostered such a number of psychics and 
mystics can scarcely afford to lock her gates so fast that no 
more saints shall enter in. Should not the Kingdom of 
Heaven increase on earth? Do not the children of to-day 
need leading by angels as well as Tobias of old? Are they 
not to listen when the Lord sends a ministering spirit, as did 
little Samuel ? The Roman Catholic Church, more than any 
other, has nurtured saintship, has better fulfilled her part in 
educating the mystic and in teaching her children the impor- 
tance of meditation, of fasting, and communion. 

The evangelical churches still assert that they believe in 
the communion of saints, publicly repeating this clause of 
the Apostles' Creed, then do all in their power to repudiate 
this portion of their professed belief. What is communion of 
saints if not an intercourse between those who have joined 
" the Church Triumphant and those still fighting in the 
valley " ? Those Christians who stand firmly by the Bible, 
asserting that they build their faith on its tenets, that it is an 
infallible guide for life, do they often read this guide? If 
they hold the precious book daily in hand, do they open their 
eyes to its marvellous teachings ? It would be well if they put 
one question to themselves : // we take all the spiritistic 
teaching out of the Bible, uthat of value would be left? 

A new cult, which has done much to explain and bring into 
use again Apostolic teaching in regard to healing, and which 
has helped many of God's suffering children to turn to Him 



10 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

for health and strength, which is growing very fast and 
taking into its fold many from the evangelic churches, many 
from the monist church, as well as those from without the 
recognized folds, is opposed to spiritism. It declares that 

11 The so-called dead and living cannot communicate together, 
for they are in separate states of existence or consciousness. " 
(Science and Health (191 7), Chap! iv., p. 74.) 

1. How can they be in separate states of existence if there 
is no such thing as matter (Science and Health, Chap, x, 
p. 321). "Matter is mortal mind; yet, strictly speaking, 
there is no mortal mind. ,, (Unity of God (1911), p. 35.) 
That there is no matter is quite unscriptural. The poet 
Genesis has not only declared that God made all the visible 
universe, as also has the Psalmist, but the Nicene Creed 
says, Maker of all things visible and invisible, while through- 
out the New Testament our bodies are spoken of honourably, 
not as "nothingness" or things to be despised. 

2. " Separate states of consciousness." What separates 
consciousness in the " so-called dead " from consciousness in 
the living if there be only spirit? 

This statement from " Science and Health " is certainly 
unscriptural. When Paul is enumerating the gifts of the 
Spirit, he includes "discerning of spirits/' declaring that 

All these worketh that one and the selfsame 
spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 

I. Cor. xii., 11. 

Not only in the light of the teachings of the New Testament, 
but in. its record of phenomena, is this erroneous. What says 
St. John regarding our attitude toward the world of spirit? 

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God : every spirit 
that confesseih that Jesus Christ is come in the 
flesh is of God : 

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God : and this is 



OPPOSITIONS TO SPIRITISM 11 

that spirit of antichrist whereof ye have heard that 
it should come : and even now already is it in the 
world. I. John iv., 2-3. 

Note. — There can be little doubt that the words of St. John 
were directed against the sect of Docetists then existing . . . 
This heresy is ascribed to Simon Magus by Hipolytus. 
Later it was said to be the work of Cassain. (Dictionary of 
Sects Heresies, Ecclesiastic Forms, Ed. by Rev. John Henry 
Blunt, D.D, p. 126.) 

St. John had met with those who ignored the body, the 
temple of the Holy Ghost. He knew that to deny that Jesus 
Christ came in the flesh is to deny all of the Christian religion. 

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among 
us, and we beheld His glory. John i., 14. 

3. To declare that the " so-called dead and living cannot 
communicate " is unscriptural in the light of Jesus' own 
actions. Did He not talk with Moses and Elijah on the 
Mount, and was this not in the presence of three disciples 
recorded by three evangelists? And was not Jesus' voice 
heard by Paul after His ascension into the etheric world? 

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying 
unto him: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 

And he said : Who art thou, Lord ? And the Lord 
said : I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. 

Acts ix., 4-5. 

Again we read : " If spiritualists understood the science of 
being, their belief in mediumship would vanish." (Science 
and Health (1917), p. 81.) 

1. Then at the same time the essence of Christianity, the 
Incarnation, would vanish, for the whole gist of the Incarna- 
tion is that Spirit acts through a medium, that medium is the 
flesh. This reconciling of the divine and human as shown by 
our example, Jesus of Nazareth, is not a denial of the body. 
He used this medium and marvellously controlled it. If, 
therefore, the Eternal Word can use matter for the purpose 



12 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

of manifestation, why cannot the lesser spirits use it? The 
teacher of the cult called " Christian Science," while telling 
us that mediumship will vanish, yet declares that " Jesus 
was the mediator between spirit and flesh, between truth and 
error." (Science and Health (1917), p. 315.) " Wearing in 
part a human form (that is, as it seemed to mortal man), 
Christ illustrates that blending with God, his divine Principle 
which gives man dominion over all the earth." (Science and 
Health (1917), p. 315.) 

We ask, why have dominion over an illusion? If there is 
no matter, except as mortal mind creates it, and mortal 
mind does not exist, then there is no earth to have dominion 
over. 

2. And then if, with the acceptance of " Science of Being," 
" belief in mediumship will vanish," so also belief in the Old 
Testament and the New Testament will vanish, and even 
Christ will vanish, for belief in the Bible is bound up with 
belief in mediumship, as I shall endeavour in this book to 
prove. Spiritism makes demands upon faith, but " Christian 
Science " scorns faith, the most fundamental act of faith ; 
the faith that is the core and essence of all sanity and 
experience, faith in the veracity, not of our senses merely, 
but of our consciousness. 

In this generation to forbid a man to use his senses, to 
tell him that all around him and about him, including his 
body, is a " creation of mortal mind," this deus ex machina, 
which its creator, Mrs Eddy, says, is an illusion, makes us 
feel that religious teachers of the present time have not 
advanced since the days when the priests of the old dispensa- 
tion, fearing they would lose prestige or fail to get their full 
share of pelf, warred against the school of the prophets and 
caused the rulers to make laws forbidding communication 
with the other world. 

Again, to-day the rulers are striving to kill out inter- 
communication by legislation, persecuting mediums, and 



OPPOSITIONS TO SPIRITISM 13 

fining those who sell their time and talent. This legislation, 
while unfair and unjust, is having one good effect — it is 
turning what was once something of a trade into a religious 
cult ; it is driving the fortune-teller along with the spiritually 
minded psychic into religious organization, but it is far from 
killing out either the desire for, or the coming of, messages 
from the Beyond. Our legislators might as well make laws 
to stop lightning, to intercept gravity, to say there should be 
no more rosy light at dawn, nor golden clouds at sunset, as 
to think they can stop the coming of spirits, or the com- 
munion of those Here with those Over There. 



Ill 

PSYCHICS OF TO-DAY & YESTERDAY 

Come, and let us go to the seer ; for he that is now 
called a prophet was be foretime called a seer. 

I. Sam. ix., 9. 

Then a spirit passed before my face ; the hair of 
my flesh stood up ; 

It stood still, but I could not discern the form 
thereof ; an image was before mine eyes, there 
was silence, and I heard a voice. Job iv., 15-16. 



After reading the Republic of Plato, a young woman re- 
marked, " Why, we are not as far along now as in the time 
of Plato." 

" Oh, yes, we are," said her teacher. " We are discussing 
these same questions, and have not tried them out, neither 
had the Athenians ; they put their prophets to death." 

" Well, we still persecute our prophets." 

" Yes, that is so ; but while in Athens there was one Plato 
and possibly a dozen men who could read intelligently what 
he wrote, to-day there are thousands who admire the teach- 
ings of Socrates and venerate his life; also many who 
understand how he was guided through life by the voice of 
his spirit guardian." 

While Noah and his family were the only ones in that part 
of the world who received and heeded the word of warning 
in time to be saved from the deluge, think how many psychics 

14 



PSYCHICS OF TO-DAY & YESTERDAY 15 

foretold the late war — what a number gave warning of the 
Titanic catastrophe ! There are very many more psychics 
to-day than in ancient times, and more people ready to 
believe. Possibly there is undue credulity, and too many 
half -fledged seers tampering with laws they do not in the 
least understand : children playing with fire. It seems, also, 
that many more women use their psychic faculties than 
formerly; a very small proportion at least of those 
mentioned in the Scripture are women. 

Abram and Lot saw and heard and heeded the angel 
messengers. Lot's wife did not heed, and Sarah laughed at 
the prophecy that a son would be born to her in her old age. 
In all of Genesis the only important mention of a woman 
psychic is that of Hagar; she saw, she heard, she heeded 
the words of the heavenly visitor. It is quite possible that 
Miriam shared with Moses and Aaron remarkable gifts. We 
know that Sinah, the mother of Samson, and Hannah, the 
mother of Samuel, were both psychic, and their sons inherited 
sensitiveness from their mothers. In the case of Samson, 
this psychic quality was used on the physical plane, though 
besides his marvellous development of strength he had a 
mysterious power. 

And, behold there was a swarm of bees and 
honey in the carcase of the lion. Jud. xiv., 8. 

But God clave an hollow place that was in the 
jaw, and there came water thereout ; and when he 
had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. 

Jud. xv., 19. 

Moses getting water out of the rock was natural, but water 
from the jawbone of an ass was phenomenal. 

Hannah was a devotional psychic. Her high spirituality, 
acting upon the nature of her son, gives him an exceptional 
start in the life of the spirit, so that even as a child he heard 
the Voice. Samuel became the great Seer of his day, one of 



16 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

the greatest of all times, but he was never an ascetic. In his 
first meeting with Saul he invites him to eat. 

And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the 
seer; go up before me unto the high place, for ye 
shall eat with me to-day, and to-morrow I will let 
thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. 

And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the 
portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto 
thee, set it by thee. And the cook took up the 
shoulder and that which was upon it and set it 
before Saul. I. Sam. ix., 19-24. 

Samuel was not contented just to hear the word of the Lord, 
he was a man of action. 

And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and 
came to Bethlehem. 

He listened first and then he acted — 

And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him : for this is 
he. 

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed 
him in the midst of his brethren ; and the spirit of 
the Lord came upon David from that day forward. 

I. Sam. xvi., 12-13. 

Although David had considerable psychic power, he did not 
entirely depend upon himself. When desiring help from the 
Invisible world, David used the ephod, as Aaron had done of 
old. 

And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. 
And David enquired at the Lord. I. Sam. xxx., 7-8. 
Besides help from Abiathar, who used the ephod, David 
later had a favourite psychic who often interpreted for him. 
For when David was up in the morning, the word 
of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's 
seer. . . . 

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait : 
let us fall now into the hand of the Lord ; . . . 



PSYCHICS OF TO-DAY & YESTERDAY 17 

And Gad came that day to David, and said unto 
him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord. 

And David, according to the saying of Gad, went 
up as the Lord commanded. 

II. Sam. xxiv., 11-14-18-19. 

The ephod, with its urim and its thummim, was a mechani- 
cal means permitted for the priests and others who could use 
it, though there were times when no one arose who could 
communicate thus. 

Moses gave an ephod to Aaron. 

And put the ephod upon him, and he girded him 
with the curious girdle of the ephod. . . . 

And he put the breastplate upon him ; also he 
put in the breastplate the urim and the thummim. 

Lev. viii., 7-8. 

And David was girdled with a linen ephod. 

II. Sam. vi., 14. 

And Gideon made an ephod thereof. Jud. viii., 27. 

And the man Micah had an house of gods, and 
made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one 
of his sons, who became his priest. Jud. xvii., 5. 

Even the urim and thummim failed sometimes. 

And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord 
answered him not, neither by dream, nor by urim, 
nor by prophets. I. Sam., xxviii., 6. 

Moses, Joshua, and others used a rod for psychic power; 
Elijah used his mantle, Elisha employed various means. 

And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from 
him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the 
Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten 
the waters, they parted hither and thither; and 
Elisha went over. II. Kings ii., 14. 

Elisha healed the waters with salt (II. Kings ii., 20), the 
pottage with meal (II. Kings iv., 41), made iron swim by 
means of a stick (II. Kings vi., 6), used the minstrels' art to 
help his spirit, brought the dead to life by prayer and giving 



18 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

of himself (II. Kings iv., 30-36). Joseph, whose psychic 

powers generally were manifested in dreams, used a cup for 

concentration. 

And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's 
mouth of the youngest. . . . Is not this it in which 
my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth ? 
. . . And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. 
. . . And Joseph said unto them, What deed is 
this that ye have done? Wot ye not that such a 
man as I can certainly divine ? Gen. xliv., 2-15. 

That our inspiration should be trusted rather than that 
of another person is emphatically taught in a curious stofy 
told in the time of Jeroboam. The names of the psychics are 
not given. One is called " a man of God from Judah," the 
other an " old prophet in Bethel." The one from Judah, 
after prophesying and giving phenomenal signs to the king, 
was returning home, when the prophet of Bethel entreated 
him to come to his house and eat, saying that an angel had 
told him to bring him thither and give him bread and water. 
Now the " man of God from Judah " had been told not to 
eat or drink in that place ; disobeying his own inspirational 
direction and taking that of the other prophet, he was 
punished with death (I. Kings xiii.). This chapter repays 
reading several times. It is hard to realize that a prophet 
would deceive another prophet, though at one time the 
degenerates of this order were condemned wholesale. 

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests 
bear rule by their means. Jer. v., 31. 

This statement is made by one of the great prophets, who was 
also a psychic, having sight and hearing. Again he says : 

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets 
that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the 
deceit of their own hearts. Jer. xxiii., 26. 

So we see that in those days, as now, the heart of man must 
be right if he is to see clearly and prophesy truly. 



PSYCHICS OF TO-DAY & YESTERDAY 19 

Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see 
God. Matt, v., 8. 

Probably no one of the prophets had more varied psychic 

experiences than Ezekiel. He saw clearly. He heard. He 

was gifted with inspirational writing. He experienced trance 

and ecstasy. 

And the spirit entered into me when he spake 
unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him 
that spake unto me. Ez. ii., 2. 

Ezekiel felt the uplift of spiritual exaltation. He also experi- 
enced levitation. 

Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me 
a voice of great rushing, saying, Blessed be the 
glory of the Lord from his place. ... So the 
spirit lifted me up and took me away. Ez. iii., 12-14. 

Ezekiel reproved those who asserted that: Every vision 
faileth (Ez. xii., 22), yet he condemned those who prophesied 
out of their own hearts, the same as Jeremiah did. 

For there shall be no more any vain vision, nor 
flattering divination within the house of Israel. 

Ez. xii., 24. 

This teaching is quite plain, helping us to discriminate between 
true and false seership. The tendency of the professional 
psychic is to flatter. Who that has crossed a Gypsy's hand 
with silver, but knows that the divination will be flattering 
if the silver piece is large enough. Also, how many have 
been treated to voluble flattery when the professional medium, 
failing to get a message, feels that he must give something to 
his " sitter." Robert Dale Owen says, " Especially should 
the spiritualist be on his guard against seeking worldly wealth 
and profit through spiritual revealings; the very attempt 
tends to attract spirits of a low order." Mr. Owen also 
relates an incident which occurred in Naples (at his own 
apartment), in substance this: Prince Luigi, sitting with the 
celebrated medium, Mr. Home, asked a question relating to 



20 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 
the succession to the throne. " I know/' said Mr. Home, in 
reply, " that your Royal Highness will pardon me for saying 
that such an inquiry ought not to be made of the spirits. It 
is their office to supply us with spiritual knowledge, not to 
satisfy curiosity about worldly concerns." 

' You are right, Mr. Home," replied Prince Luigi, " and I 
thank you for speaking so plainly." (The Debatable Land, 
pp. 238-9.) 

While the prophet was always a seer, one who had vision 
and prescience, not all psychics are prophets, not many are 
able to see clearly what is to be. Yet in all ages in every 
land wise men have arisen. 

The true Light, which lighteth every man that 
cometh into the world. John i., 9. 

has burned brightly in India, China, Egypt, in Persia and 
Greece, as well as in Palestine. In all these countries we find 
children of God with unusual psychic gifts, earlier and later 
than the day of the Hebrew prophets, among whom Gautama 
Buddha stands out in bold relief. In very early days, as 
now, women usually were more intuitive than men. In all 
parts of the ancient world we find women who were psychic 
consulted by men. These women often swayed the tide of 
affairs as much as did the queens of later days; when a 
woman so gifted became famous, she was called a sibyl. 
Both the Libyan and the Persian sibyls lived long before the 
time of Abram. The Cumaean sibyl, probably the greatest 
of all, was consulted by ^Eneas, who believed and acted upon 
what he received through her mediation. Numa Pompilius 
framed the laws of Rome by the advice given by Egeria. 
The Delphic sibyl was consulted by kings, philosophers, and 
poets ; the one that sat upon the tripod in Socrates' day was 
truly great, but in later days the pythias were not very trust- 
worthy. The psychic wave, which reached its greatest 
height in the first century, had begun to recede in Hadrian's 
day. 



PSYCHICS OF TO-DAY & YESTERDAY 21 

He found an ignorant peasant girl upon the tripod at 
Delphi. Even in Palestine there were no more Miriams or 
Hannahs, no more saintly women like Elisabeth and Ann 
and Mary. A few of the fathers of the Church had some 
psychic power. Polycarp had hearing. " As Polycarp entered 
into the stadium a voice came to him from heaven saying, 
Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man ; and no one saw the 
speaker, but those of our people who were present heard the 
voice." (Letter of Smyrneus 9-) Irenaeus, speaking of 
miraculous powers, says, " Some most certainly and truly 
cast out devils, others have the knowledge of things to come, 
as also visions and prophetic communications. " (Eusebius 
B. v., Chap. 7.) Justin Martyr, writing about fifty years 
after the days of the Apostles, says, "There are prophetical 
gifts among us to this day, and both men and women are 
endowed with extraordinary powers of the spirit of God." 
(Quoted by Dr. Middleton, "Free Inquiry/' p. 10.) St. 
Augustine speaks of miracles in his day. (City of God, 
b. 22, Chap, viii.) Also he describes his mother in a state 
of trance. (Confessions, ix.-xi.) 

So very much has been written about the psychic gifts 
of the mediaeval saints, but their lives are so wreathed around 
with legend it is difficult to find the facts. Although not a 
saint, Dante was extraordinarily gifted with psychic power; 
evidently he had his visions in trance. " So full was I of 
slumber at that hour . . . " " So did my soul, which still 
was flying, turn back to look upon the pass which never had 
a living person left." He tells us that Virgil was his guid-. 
and was sent to help him by Beatrice, she having been 
instructed of his need by Lucia, the messenger of the Blessed 
Virgin. As soon as Dante learns that the Mantuan bard ha? 
been sent by heaven to succour him, he says, " Go on now. 
for one soul will is in both, thou leader, thou Lord and thou 
master. " (Hell, Canto II., trans. Charles Eliott Norton.- 
It is certainly significant that Dante, a Catholic, should 



22 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

address the pagan Virgil as Lord, the same as the prophets 
of old did their angel guides. 

The great seer of Sweden had very much conscious and 
subconscious vision, and often lay in trance for days. He 
wrote volume after volume about what he saw and heard 
while in communication with those in the other world. In 
one place he says : " I have discoursed with angels and spirits 
now for several years, nor durst any spirit, neither would 
any angel, say anything to me, much less instruct me, about 
anything in the World ; but the Lord alone, who was revealed 
to me, and afterwards continually did and does appear before 
my eyes as the sun in which He is, even as He appears to the 
angels, taught me and illuminated me." (Divine Providence, 
p. 135; publ. 1764.) Speaking of this seer, Robert Dale 
Owen says, " Swendenborg fell deep into the old, old error, 
the worst of drosses — the time-honoured delusion of Human 
Infallibility. Even worse than this is the cruel spirit aggra- 
vated by the assumption of false premises, in which he speaks 
of those whom he ought to have commended and hailed as 
spiritual brethren" (Quakers). (The Debatable Land, pp. 
229-232.) 

Among those psychics neither high-born nor sainted, but 
of lowly birth, and confessedly a sinner in his youth, is John 
Bunyan, who has given to the world a remarkable account of 
his religious growth in valuable inspirational writings. In 
speaking of his conversions he says, " A voice did suddenly 
dart from heaven into my soul." Again, " And sometimes it 
would sound so loud within me ... I knew not the reason 
of this sound which as I did both see and feel soon after was 
sent from heaven as an alarm to waken me to provide for 
what was coming" (evidently semi-trance). "After I had 
been in this condition some three or four days, as I was 
sitting by the fire, I suddenly felt this word to sound in my 
heart, ' I must go to Jesus.' " (Grace Abounding.) 

William Blake, whose friends thought him crazy because 



PSYCHICS OF TO-DAY & YESTERDAY 23 

he affirmed that he talked with Milton, was an inspired artist 
and writer, of whom it is sometimes said he depended too 
entirely upon inspiration. Most interesting are his ideas 
regarding vision. " I question not my corporeal eye any more 
than I would question a window concerning sight, I look 
through and not with it." Blake speaks of his genius and his 
angel guide as one and the same. As a boy he saw angels in 
trees, and he most touchingly describes a fairy funeral, seen 
when walking alone in his garden. Of his brother Robert's 
death we read : " At the last solemn moment the visionary 
eyes beheld the blessed spirit ascend heavenward through 
the matter-of-fact ceiling, clapping its hands for joy." 
Though Blake's brother Robert had ceased to be with him in 
the body, he was seldom far absent from the faithful 
visional y in spirit ... in hours of solitude and inspira- 
tion his form would appear and speak to the poet in a con- 
solatory dream." (Gilchrist's Life of Wm. Blake, p. 60.) 

England is not without its great women psychics. Though 
not so well known as Bunyan, Blake, or George Fox, but 
earlier than the men widely known as psychics was the 
Anchorite Juliana of Norwich, probably the greatest of 
devotional and spiritual psychics the world has known since 
the first century. Her visions of the Passions of the Lord, 
" Revelations of Divine Love," made to her by " Ghostlie 
sight," by the spoken word, and by the movement of the lips, 
are beautifully narrated by her in exquisite form, showing 
her deep erudition, as well as her spirituality. " And this 
vision was a learning to my understanding that the continued 
seeking of the soul pleaseth God much." (Chap, x.) " And 
after this he shewed a sovereign ghostly liking in my soul. 
. . . This feeling was so glad and so ghostlie that I was 
all in peace." (Chap, xv.) "For his passion shewed to me 
more properly in his blessed face, and namely, in his lips." 
(Chap, xvi.) "And then our good Lord opened my ghostlie 
eye and shewed me my soul in the midst of my heart." 
(Chap, lxviii.) 



24 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

The revelations made by this wonderful woman require 
deep and repeated study. Her little devotional book repays 
reading many times. " It is Jesus in the light of Plato, or 
Plato in the light of Jesus ; Jesus seen in reason and in love, 
apart from the dark shadows of Hebraism in which he was 
born. ,, 

Probably no country has had as many great psychics among 
women as France. Pre-eminent is Jeanne dArc, but who 
lives that has not heard of this holy martyred maid, in her 
day so grossly misunderstood, so treacherously betrayed, and 
now so tardily sainted ? Our own Mark Twain has portrayed 
her life so beautifully it would be difficult to do it better. 

Then brave, beautiful Madame Guy on, beloved by many, 
a friend of bishops and men and women in high places, the 
teacher of Fenelon. She was full of the spirit of prayer and 
helpfulness, a writer of power on religious subjects, yet was 
persecuted and unjustly imprisoned (seven years in the Bas- 
tille), most basely treated by those she had benefited, be- 
cause, forsooth, her spiritual gifts were beyond the knowledge 
of the Church in her day. Had Jeanne Marie de La Motte 
lived a century later she would probably have been sainted. 
If living to-day, Madame Guyon would be in great favour. 
At first she saw God united only to the powers of her soul. 
later He is united to its substance. In this latter state she 
did remarkable automatic writing, which is now coming into 
fashion again. In 1694 the Archbishop of Paris condemned 
her published works, yet forty volumes of her writing remain. 

About the middle of the nineteenth century, when so much 
in the way of psychic phenomena was taking place in the 
United States and in England, a wide-spreading, though not 
very high, wave bore on its crest a peasant girl in the South 
of France, Bernadette Soubiroux, who, in semi-conscious 
trance, had both sight and hearing. Fortunately this girl 
did not live a century or two earlier, or she would probably 
have been burned. As it was, it took four years before her 



PSYCHICS OF TO-DAY & YESTERDAY 25 

friends were permitted to believe in her visions. From a 
long and excellent article on Lourdes, the following extract 
is taken : 

" Bernadette often fell into an ecstacy. The 
mysterious vision she saw in the hollow of the 
rock — Massabielle — was that of a young and 
beautiful lady, - lovelier than I have ever seen,' said 
the child (14 years old). The girl was the only one 
who saw the vision, although sometimes many stood 
there with her ; now and then the apparition spoke 
to the seer, who also was the only one who heard 
the Voice." 

"Four years later, in 1862, the Bishop of the 
Diocese declared the faithful justified in believing 
in the reality of the apparition. Leo XIII. author- 
ized a special Office and a Mass in commemoration 
of the apparition, and in 1907 Pius X. extended the 
observation of this feast to the entire Church. " 

Catholic Encyl. 

We are not told that Bernadette saw the Blessed Virgin. 
She said " A beautiful lady," but now it is usual among 
Catholics to hold that the apparition was that of the Virgin 
called " Our Lady of Lourdes." This is better than in the 
case of St. Dunstan's vision of a beautiful lady, who is sup- 
posed to be the devil. We have made a step forward since 
the day when all apparitions were feared or termed diabolical. 

There are psychics now in every walk of life. Psychics of 
all nationalities and of every degree of ability; most of them 
are honest, but the percentage of ignorance is vast, not only 
among the professionals, but the society women who use 
their gift as a fad. When we see the number of illiterate, 
ill-fed, poorly housed men and women who make up the 
majority of professional mediums, the wonder is that we get 
any message of value. There is a larger number of well- 
developed psychics than is often conjectured. There are 
many in private life using their supernormal power for 



26 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

their own work, a growing number of those who devote 
their gifts to the uplifting of humanity. Now and again we 
find a psychic wholly true to the vision, living a simple life, 
not selling this gift for pelf or for praise, failing oftentimes 
rather than be guilty of " flattering divination." 

There is a time and a place for all things. No psychic can 
entirely regulate the time, nor can any one be a success for 
every one. How can any one person be in touch with all the 
forces of this vast universe? Because you get nothing do 
not think the psychic is a fraud, or that there is " nothing 
in it." At another time this one, or some one else, may give 
you more than you can appropriate. The question is, are 
we ready? The wise ones do not give meat to babes. Our 
spiritual discernment may be in its infancy. 



IV 
SPIRITISM IN THE BIBLE 

They that were with me saw indeed the light, 
but they heard not the voice. Acts xxii., 9. 

It is not possible to rise from the perusal of the 
Scriptures, Old or New, without feeling that the 
verity of communication with the Invisible World 
is the groundwork of all we have read. 

Robert Dale Owen. 



Although there are many, very many, writings of value, 
especially those of the long ago, which deal with the mystic 
and mysticism, with divination in various forms, with the 
occult forces of nature, and the ways and means of controlling 
these forces that surround the supernormal man, and 
minute directions for the development and use of man's 
supersenses, yet all this literature taken together does not 
give us an iota of what we find in the Hebrew Scriptures and 
the New Testament. In this collection of great books, which 
we call the Bible, we find a full system of spiritistic teaching, 
simple, yet complete, directions for developing the higher 
faculties of man, many instances of the marvellous beyond 
those marvels seen to-day. We have in the Bible mystics 
that outshine those of early Christendom or those of the 
martyrs; we have psychics whose powers outrival those of 
the adepts of India, and whose supersensuous experiences are 
yet so dimly understood that the Bible is deemed by many to 

27 



28 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

be merely myths and fables instead of a true history of a 
wonderful race, a chosen people being prepared by a multi- 
tude of tribulations in their earth life to seek help from the 
over- world (which help they always had for the asking). 
Even a cursory glance at the records this race has given to 
us shows that they produced four major psychics all greater 
than any the world had before the advent of the perfect man, 
who was the Supreme Psychic of this earth, the greatest 
spiritistic teacher of all time ! Only in the " fulness of time " 
could such a manifestation of God in the flesh be possible. 
Prior to His coming we must needs have many leaders and 
teachers to keep the people's face turned toward the light, 
and spur on the march to a higher civilization. These 
prophets and priests we find in all countries, but especially 
among this people through whom the Saviour of the world 
was to come. Abraham, Moses, Ezekiel and Daniel stand as 
great signal lights upon the highest mountain tops, their 
psychic powers all stars of the first magnitude. 

In Chaldea much was known of magic. For generations, 
many seers had lived and taught the intercommunication of 
the over-world and this world. Abraham's early environment 
was such that it was not new or startling to him to receive a 
message from the skies. When the angel called him to come 
forth from Ur and travel westward he readily obeyed. We 
know how this obedience to the voice of God's messenger was 
repaid. Dear Father Abraham had many trials, many tests 
of faith, but he was rewarded for his trust in spirit guidance. 
To his psychic sense of hearing was added that of vision, of 
instruction by means of dreams, and finally through faith 
he attained to certitude. 

Moses, learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, was 
prepared not only in the Palace of Pharaoh, but later in the 
home of Jethro, in the land of Midian, for his gigantic and 
perilous mission, that of bringing his people out of Egypt. 
Aided by his brother Aaron, and supported by the strong arm 



SPIRITISM IN THE BIBLE 29 

of his angel guide (who had spoken to him from the burning 
bush), this man, Moses, full of marvellous power, performed 
wonders that even modern science fails to duplicate. We can 
kill flies — but not produce them at will. We can illumine the 
dark — but not create darkness. We can make the waters 
turn to blood in our unchristian warfare — but can we heal 
them? The magicians of Egypt had for centuries cultivated 
the occult, so that they could do many wonders ; but in every 
instance Moses outdid them, as, at an earlier day, Joseph 
had outshone them, before Iran Ra. Not only as a magician, 
but as a general, a judge, and a teacher, is Moses eminent 
among the greatest of this earth. His star is to that of the 
prophets what Sirius is to Regulus. Too well is his life 
known to Bible students to need larger comment. Moses not 
only had his psychic senses well developed, his spirit was 
attuned to the Higher Harmonies ; he was in constant touch 
with his mighty guide — the great Jehovah ! 

In leadership Joshua was fully equal to the task devolving 
on him. Educated by constant association with Moses, his 
spiritual powers ripe for expression, Joshua did feats that are 
as yet beyond the ken of our scientists. His knowledge of the 
law of acoustics, imparted to him by his angel guide, brought 
down the walls of Jericho, without powder or monstrous 
guns such as we use to-day. 

We see Jephthah, Gideon, Samuel, Samson, and David all 
using their supersenses, keeping in touch with the powers of 
the Invisible World. 

Of the four great psychics, the one who best explains his 
visions, aiding all those who read between the lines, is Ezekiel. 
Thoroughly imbued with the spirit of his race, coming, as he 
did, in touch with the rich stores of Kabalistic lore in Baby- 
lon, Ezekiel's sensitive spirit enabled him to look within. Tak- 
ing the Oriental symbol for the body, a chariot, he decribes 
the centres of animal, of soul, and spirit life. He sees the 
wheels that move the bodily mechanism, the flowers of life, 



30 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

the wings of his own immortal spirit. He sees the celestial 
fire that burns upon the altar of the heart. He found the 
sacred Ark within, the mercy seat above, of which Moses had 
made a visible pattern for the children of Israel. For children 
need objects and patterns, and Moses saw the pattern on the 
Mount, while Ezekiel saw his vision when meditating by the 
riverside. It is not where we are, but how we approach the 
Invisible that makes vision possible to any individual. The 
early Hebrew prophets were led to Egypt to gain greater 
occult knowledge from the mother country. Later much of 
mystic lore came to these men of the Hebrew race who were 
ready for such learning from the bibles of Babylon. What 
one prophet found on the mountain top, another saw beside 
a river. All nature teems with the Spirit of the living God. 
Some of his children find him in the meadows, some by the 
side of a brook, others feel the Infinite in the ocean or meet 
him in the rare air and loneliness of the mountains. Whether 
in rocks, in rivers, in trees, or in stars we find our Creator, 
we shall see that the Bible furnishes instances of those who 
have done likewise. 

Daniel, in true Oriental fashion, lies on his face on the 
ground. He had fasted and prayed, so no matter where he 
was or what the position of his body, the attitude of his spirit 
was right, for his angel guide appeared and touched him and 
told him to stand upon his feet. Evidently the angel did not 
wish Daniel to think he came out of the earth, or that any 
other than God was to be worshipped. It was as if he had 
said, I am a man, stand up, and let me talk to you face to 
face. The Book of Daniel repays reading many times ; no 
one book of the Old Testament contains more marvels or 
more helpful suggestions for one who wishes to unfold his 
latent psychic or spiritual senses. 

While the Old Testament is full of marvellous matter, 
revealing often deep spiritual insight, and is a text-book of 
great importance to all psychics, the New Testament holds 



SPIRITISM IN THE BIBLE 31 

the fuller, riper knowledge, and also helps us to interpret 
much that is hidden in the earlier books. There is food for 
thought in the account of Philip meeting with the eunuch of 
great authority, who, reading in the Old Testament, under- 
stood not the reference to the Messiah: 

And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read 
the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou 
what thou readest? 

And he said, How can I 

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the 
same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 

Acts viii., 30-35. 

In the Old Testament we are taken through kindergarten, 
high school, and college. In the New Testament we have 
normal school, travel, and experience of life lived to the 
fullest. 

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and 
truth came by Jesus Christ. John i., 17. 

Just as the coming of the sun on a clear day in June floods 
the earth with light, so the coming of the Son of Man brought 
a great spiritual sun to lighten the minds of men. Said he 
not: 

I am come that they might have life, and that 
they might have it more abundantly. John x., 10. 

Those who came under the spell of this perfected personality 
must have realized that life was more abundant. 

From the appearance of the angel to Zacharias, announcing 
the birth of John the Baptist, to the Revelation given to John 
the Divine, we find the New Testament full of spiritistic 
teaching, replete with the manifestation of the power of the 
spirit, many and plain directions given by the Master for the 
unfolding of the psychic and spiritual man. We see, not the 
Israelite alone, but those of other lands gifted with psychic 
power. Were not the Magi led by a star to the manger at 



32 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 
Bethlehem ? Were they not told in a dream to return home 
without revisiting Herod? We note that the angels announc- 
ing the birth of the Messiah sang to the shepherds, not to 
those of high degree. We hear the Master saying to his 
disciples : 

Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries 
of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not 
given. Matt, xiii., n. 

Not all were ready for the light; their time had not yet come. 
Just as in the Old Testament we find four great psychics 
and many lesser ones, so also in the New Testament there are 
four psychics who stand out conspicuously. John the Baptist, 
spoken of by Isaiah as the forerunner of Christ, fulfilling 
the prophecy that he should be a voice crying in the wilder- 
ness. John knew that his mission was to prepare the way. 
Said he not : 

There cometh One mightier than I after me, the 
latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop 
down and unloose. Mark i., 7. 

and what said Jesus of John? 

\ prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than 
a prophet .... 

Among them that are born of women there hath 
not risen a greater than John the Baptist. 

Matt, xi., 9-1 1. 
Did not the same angel announce the birth of John the 
Baptist that announced the birth of Jesus? Was not 
Elisabeth, his mother, filled with spirit power before his 
coming, so that when she heard the salutation of Mary, the 
Blessed Virgin, the babe leaped in her womb and she pro- 
phesied. Had Elisabeth not been told from on High how 
greatly favoured her cousin Mary was, could she have hailed 
her thus ? 

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my 
Lord should come to me? Luke i., 43. 



SPIRITISM IN THE BIBLE 33 

Then did Mary prophesy that all generations would call her 
blessed. At the birth of John the Baptist, his father, being 
filled with spirit power, also prophesied. 

And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of 
the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of 
the Lord to prepare his ways. Luke i., 76. 

John not only had the prophetic power evinced by his father 
and mother, but he had real sight and hearing. It was 
through these psychic senses that he was enabled to point 
out to the people the One who was come to redeem Israel. 

And John bear record, saying 1 , I saw the spirit 
descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abode 
upon him ; 

And I knew him not; but he that sent me to 
baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon 
whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and 
remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth 
with the Holy Ghost. 

And I saw, and bear record that this is the Son 
of God. John i., 32-34- 

Here we see that not only was John sent to make straight 
the path, but to declare the Christ. Did he not say : 

Behold the Lamb of God. John i., 36. 

Two of John's disciples, hearing this, followed Jesus. 

One of the two which heard John speak, and 
followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 

John i., 40. 

Immediately Andrew found his brother and brought him to 
Jesus, telling Simon Peter that Jesus was the Messiah. 

Of all the disciples of Jesus, no one had greater psychic 
gifts than Peter. Not only did he see and hear with his 
interior senses, but he had marvellous strength as a healer, 
and even brought the dead to life. 

But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, 
and prayed ; and turning him to the body, said, 



34 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes ; and when 

she saw Peter, she sat up. Acts ix., 40. 

Peter's power of preaching the Word was really volcanic 

after the day of Pentecost. He was taught much in vision 

and in trance. 

Peter went up upon the house top to pray about 
the sixth hour: 

And he became very hungry and would have 
eaten; but while they made ready, he fell into a 
trance. Acts x., 10. 

It is worthy of note that the same angel that appeared and 
talked to Peter had earlier appeared and talked to Cornelius, 
a Centurian of the Italian band. This instance, fully related 
in the Acts, shows us that a development of the psychic 
powers was not dependent upon a belief in the Christian 
religion, for, as yet, Cornelius had not been converted. It 
also tells us that God, in his Infinite mercy, did not send an 
angel of light to the Apostle and one of darkness to the 
pagan ! When Peter came to the house of Cornelius, he said : 

Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of 
persons. Acts x., 34. 

And was it not while Paul still persecuted the Christians 
that he heard the Voice saying unto him : 
Saul, why persecutest thou me? 
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the 
Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest : it is 
hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 

Acts ix., 4-5. 

Jesus had told the disciples that he would come to them. 
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come 
to you. John xiv., 18. 

It seemed natural and fitting that those he had specially 
chosen and taught and sent forth to work in his vineyard 
should have this promise, but it is of deepest interest, to those 
outside the house of Israel, that Jesus came to Paul — speak- 



SPIRITISM IN THE BIBLE 35 

ing to him so that he heard the Master's voice and was 
converted. He not only heard, but he saw a light so great 
that it blinded him. 

And when I could not see for the glory of that 
light. Acts xxii., 1 1. 

Paul was taught much through visions and failed not to obey 
their leading. He also experienced trance and both spoke 
and wrote inspirationally. Paul healed the sick, cast out 
devils, brought the dead to life; in every possible way he 
used his great psychic gifts. It is said he blinded the sorcerer 
just by looking at him. (Acts xiii., 9.) Brought up in the 
strict sect of the Pharisees, he had been taught to believe in 
the resurrection of the body and in spirit return. He spake 
the truth boldly at all times ; though his ability was great and 
his gifts many, he did not think he knew it all, but heeded 
others who spake by the spirit. (Acts xxi., 4.) 

Though none of the disciples was stronger in the power of 
spirit healing than Peter and Paul, and no one of the apostles 
preached the word more dynamically than did these two, yet 
Barnabas was more eloquent, and there was one whose power 
of vision far surpassed any of the disciples or the prophets 
of old. His highest gift being sight, we have in the Revela- 
tion of St. John the Divine, beautiful glimpses of the New 
Jerusalem — the City Over There — and wonderful symbolic 
teachings regarding what man is to be when his wanderings 
all are over. John saw and heard many angels, even having 
a vision of the First and Last. Seeing Him with many 
crowns and hearing his praises sung by the heavenly choir, it 
seemed fitting that the Beloved Disciple should have had 
these visions granted to him when living in exile on the 
lonely Isle of Patmos. 



V 

HOW TO UNFOLD OUR HIGHER SENSES 

Meditate upon these things. I. Tim. iv., 15. 

According to your faith be it unto you. 

Matt, ix., 29. 



Many persons say, "Why is not the word of God plainer ?" 
"If the Bible only would explain to us just what to do." 
It does. In every respect the Word of God gives plain and 
ample directions for the development of man on his physical, 
his psychical, and his spiritual planes. There is a whole 
system of psychism in the Bible. Very much is in the Old 
Testament, also much in the New Testament, though the 
latter deals more exclusively with the spiritual aspects of life. 
If we but read with eyes and ears open, and if we not only 
read, but mark, learn, and inwardly digest the teachings of 
the Scripture, we shall need no other tutor, no other book of 
instruction for the unfolding of our higher powers. Let us 
first note what the great seers did before their higher gifts 
were developed. They prayed : 

So Abraham prayed unto God. Gen. xx., 17. 

Hannah prays: 

And it came to pass, as she continued praying 
before the Lord, . . . 

For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath 
given me my petition which I asked of him. 

I. Sam. i., 12-27. 

36 



HOW TO UNFOLD OUR HIGHER SENSES 37 

Solomon prays : 

Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, 
Fire came down from heaven. II. Chron. vii., i. 

Moses prays : 

And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord 
shewed him a tree, which, when he cast into the 
waters, the waters were made sweet. Ex. xv., 25. 

Daniel prays : 

He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, 
and prayed, and gave thanks before his God. 

Dan. vi., 10. 

Elijah prays: 

And he cried unto the Lord and said, O Lord 
my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into 
him again. I. Kings xvii., 21. 

Elisha prays and restores a child's life: 

He went in therefore, and shut the door upon 
them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. 

II. Kings iv., 33- 
Habakkuk prays : 

O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the 
years. Hab. iii., 2. 

Jesus prays : 

And in the morning, rising up a great while before 

day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, 

and there prayed. Mark i., 35. 

And it came to pass in those days, that he went 
out into a mountain to pray, and continued all 
night in prayer to God. Luke vi., 12. 

Jesus prays for Peter : 

But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. 

Luke xxii., 32. 

Jesus bids his disciples to pray : 

He said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into 
temptation. Luke xxii., 40. 



38 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Jesus prays for himself: 

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's 
cast, and kneeled dow r n, and prayed. 

Luke xxii., 41. 

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly. 

Luke xxii., 44. 

The apostles pray with the women : 

These all continued with one accord in prayer 
and supplication, with the women and Mary the 
Mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. Acts i., 14. 

All Bible students know that there are many texts referring 
to prayer in the law and the prophets. It is sufficient for 
Christians that the Lord Jesus set us this example. Yet 
prayer is not enough, for when the disciples asked the Master 
why they could not cast out devils, His answer was : 

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer 
and fasting. Matt, xvii., 21. 

They fasted. 
Moses fasted : 

And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, 
forty days and forty nights ; I did neither eat bread, 
nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye 
sinned. Deut. ix., 18. 

Elijah fasted : 

And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in 
the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights 
unto Horeb the Mount of God. I. Kings xix., 8. 

This meat that lasted Elijah so long was only bread and 
water. (I. Kings xix., 6.) 

When he heard of the destruction of Jerusalem, Nehemiah 
fasted : 

I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, 
and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. 

Neh. i., 4. 



HOW TO UNFOLD OUR HIGHER SENSES 39 

David fasted : 

I humbled my soul with fasting. Ps. xxxv., 13. 
With fasting, as with prayer, the deed is not sufficient of 
itself if it lacks the proper intention. 

Then came the word of the Lord of Hosts unto 
me, saying, 

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the 
priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the 
fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, 
did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? 

Zee. vii., 4-5- 
Jesus fasted : 

And when he had fasted forty days and forty 
nights, he was afterwards an hungered. 

Matt., iv., 2. 

The disciples fasted: 

As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted. . . 
And when they had fasted and prayed. 

Acts xiii., 2-3. 

Not alone the Hebrews, but those of other races prayed 
and fasted to obtain spiritual power. 

And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting 
until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed 
in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in 
bright clothing. Acts x., 30. 

Paul frequently alludes to his fasting: 

In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, 
in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
nakedness. II. Cor. xi., 27. 

In the old Testament, and in the New Testament, we find 
the women, as well as men, fasted. 
Esther says to Mordecai : 

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present 
in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor 
drink three days, night or day: I also and my 
maidens will fast likewise. Esther iv., 16. 



40 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Neither did age make any difference, for of the prophetess 
Anna it is said : 

And she was a widow of about four score and 
four years, which departed not from the temple, but 
served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 

Luke ii., 37- 
They meditated: 

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at 
eventide. Gen. xxiv., 63. 

To Joshua the Lord says : 

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy 
mouth ; but thou shalt meditate therein day and 
night, that thou mayest observe to do according to 
all that is written therein. Josh, i., 8. 

David many times speaks of musing and meditating: 

I have more understanding than all my teachers ; 
for thy testimonies are my meditation. 

Ps. cxix., 99. 

I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect 
unto thy ways. Ps. cxix., 15. 

I meditate on all thy works ; I muse on the works 
of thy hands. Ps. cxliii., 5. 

After giving directions for spiritual attainment to Timothy, 
Paul says : 

Meditate upon these things. I. Tim. iv., 15. 

They practiced self-restraint: 

Not only prayer and meditation and fasting, but modera- 
tion in all things is enjoined. 

Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread. 

Deut. xvi., 8. 

Samson and his mother are examples of power coming 
through temperance : 

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the 
woman and said unto her . . . 



HOW TO UNFOLD OUR HIGHER SENSES 41 

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not 
wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean 
thing. Jud. xiii., 3-4. 

As long as Samson used self-restraint he was wonderfully 
strong. When his wife was pleading with him to tell her 
wherein lay his strength, he restrained himself, saying: 

Behold, I have not told it my father nor my 
mother, and shall I tell it thee. Jud. xiv., 16. 

Daniel, even when condemned to the lions' den, had the 
power to restrain fear : 

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was 
signed, he went into his house; and his windows 
being open in his chamber towards Jerusalem, he 
kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and 
prayed, "and gave thanks before his God, as he did 
aforetime. Dan. vi., 10. 

Paul has much to say on this subject of self-restraint, 
which virtue he practised constantly : 

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh 
with the affections and lusts. Gal. v., 24. 

Peter inculcates self-restraint: 

For this is thankworthy : If a man for conscience 
sake endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 

I. Pet. ii., 19. 

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind. 

I. Pet. i, 13. 
After fasting in the wilderness, all desire for an earthly 
kingdom was set aside by Jesus. 

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding 
high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms 
of the world, and the glory of them; 

And saith unto him, All these things will I give 
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan : 
for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy 
God, and him only shalt thou serve. Matt, iv., 8-10. 



42 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 
Jesus includes moderation in speech: 

But let your communication be yea, yea; nay, 
nay. Matt, v., 37. 

Jesus would have us restrain all our bodily powers, making 
them subservient to the spirit: 

Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut 
them off, and cast them from thee; . . . 

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and 
cast it from thee. Matt, xviii., 8-9. 

Then Jesus asked his disciples to refrain from sleep : 

And he said unto them, why sleep ye ? Rise and 
pray, lest ye enter into temptation. Luke xxii., 46. 

Jesus sets an example of restraint of speech when sent to 
King Herod : 

Then he questioned with him in many words ; but 
he answered him nothing. Luke xxiii., 9. 

Also when before Pilate : 

And went again into the judgment hall, and saith 
unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave 
him no answer. 

Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not 
unto me? John xix., 9-10. 

While prayer and fasting and meditation and self-restraint 
are all excellent and necessary, if we would enter at the gate 
of power, yet they amount to but little without faith. 
They had faith : 

By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things 
not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark 
to the saving of his house. Heb. xi., 7. 

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out 
into a place which he should after receive for an 
inheritance, obeyed. Heb. xi., 8. 

It was because of his great faith that Abraham obtained 
the wishes of his heart. 



HOW TO UNFOLD OUR HIGHER SENSES 43 

And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it 
to him for righteousness. Gen. xv., 6. 

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide 
himself a iamb for a burnt offering. Gen. xxii., 8. 

Moses had abundant faith, else how could he have per- 
formed the wonders that he did : 

And Moses verily was faithful in all his house. 

Heb. iii., 5. 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had faith that carried 
hem safely through the fiery furnace: 

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to 
deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace; and he 
will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. 

Dan. iii., 17. 

Daniel was made strong through faith : 

So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no 
manner of hurt was found upon him, because he 
believed in his God. Dan. vi., 23. 

And what shall I more say ? For the time would 
fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of 
Samson, and of Jephtha ; of David also, and 
Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith 
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained 
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched 
the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, 
out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in 
fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 
Women received their dead raised to life again. 

Heb. xi., 32-35. 
If faith hath done all this and more, what of lack of faith? 
One example is that of Peter trying to walk on the water. 

But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid ; and, 
beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 

And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, 
and caught him, and said unto him. O thou of 
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 

Matt, xiv., 30-31. 



44 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

From a study of the miracles of healing, both by Jesus and 
his disciples, it would seem that faith was the most necessary 
factor for the gaining of health. Not only faith in God and 
faith in self, but faith in God's messengers that are sent by 
him for our instruction and guidance is essential for a full 
unfolding of our higher senses. The examples are very 
numerous of men and women who have leaned on and 
listened to the messages from God, not alone in the Bible, 
but all down through the ages. That we may have as many 
helpers, from the Unseen, as we need for our development 
and work we see in the words of the Master : 

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my 
Father, and he shall presently give me more than 
twelve legions of angels? Matt xxvi., 53. 

One will say, Yes, I believe, this is true of Jesus, The 
Pei feet One, but how about us, poor, weak, miserable sinners ? 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall 
ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 

John xvi., 23. 
He that believeth on me, the works that I do 
shall he do also; and greater works than these 
shall he do ; because I go unto my Father. 

John xiv., 12. 

Only in rare instances are there any special manifestations 
of psychic power in early life. It is well that we have time 
to develop the clay mantle, and learn to use our physical 
senses aright before the higher senses begin to unfold. This 
unfolding should be gradual and orderly; it takes time as 
w<*ll as labour. Abraham was ninety years old when he had 
his greater visions. Moses was eighty years of age when he 
talked with "the angel in the burning bush." He had 
retired from court life in Egypt, and had for many years been 
living close to nature, watching the flocks of his father-in-law 
Jethro, in the land of Midian. Jeremiah and Daniel were 
quite young men when their seership began, but they had both 
gone through trials and suffering and learned the lessons that 



HOW TO UNFOLD OUR HIGHER SENSES 45 

lead to light. Hagar was young when the angel appeared to 
her in the wilderness of Shur. Samson's and Samuel's 
mothers were well on in years ere we find any record of their 
clairvoyance or clairaudience. Samuel himself is an excep- 
tional instance (often quoted) of a child hearing a vo.ice from 
the "Invisible World." Yet this exception tells us that it is 
quite possible, when a child's environment is all that it 
should be. Samuel's mother prayed for him: 

For this child I prayed ; and the Lord hath 
given me my petition which I asked of him. 

I. Sam., i., 27. 

He was brought to the temple at an early age. He slept 
in a room alone. He was in attendance on a godly man, who 
helped him to know that the Voice was from On High. Eli 
told little Samuel to answer this call, and what to say. 

While prayer is of the very first importance, not just 
words, but a sincere desire for betterment, a yearning with 
all the might toward God, yet, as work without faith profits 
nothing, so prayer without faith is of no avail, for the very 
essence of prayer is faith: 

Knowing that a man is not justified by the 
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. 

Gal. ii., 16. 

Said not the Master : 

What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, 
believe that ye shall receive them, and ye shall have 
them. Mark xi., 24. 

One may pray all day and all night for the gifts of the 
spirit without coming in touch with the Higher Powers unless 
the attitude of the spirit is right (bodily attitude matters not). 
The attitude of the human spirit should be one of absolute 
submission to the Divine will. 

For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same 
is my brother, and my sister, and mother. 

Mark iii., 35. 



46 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Jesus himself failed not to do the will of God. 

Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will 
of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 

John iv., 34- 
Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from 
me : nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 

Luke xxii., 42. 

We are to ask, but only ask for that which is good for us 
in the sight of the Father. Then have patience as to the time 
of receiving the Divine gifts. Meditation is an aid to prayer, 
especially if we meditate upon the words of the Master. 

The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, 
and they are life. John vi., 63. 

If we believed this one saying of the Lord we would make 
haste to learn all His recorded words. Yet prayer and 
meditation are not enough, for we hear the Master saying: 

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, 
shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he 
that doeth the will of my Father. Matt, vii., 21. 

Let us note what James says about faith and works : 

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith 
without works is dead? Jas. ii., 20. 

Again the Blessed Master says : 

If any man will do His will he shall know of the 
doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak 
of myself. John vii., 17. 

The Master here gives us a sure way to knowledge, but how 
few study the commandments of Jesus so as to know God's 
will. We still treasure the Decalogue of Moses, teach it to 
our children, read it in our churches, print it in large type ; do 
we as much with the Sermon on the Mount, wherein we find 
ten very plain commandments, and all of them positive? 

Be luminous. Matt, v., 16. 

Be forgiving. " v., 24. 

Be sincere. " v., 37. 



v., 


39- 


v., 


42. 


v., 


44. 


vi., 


3. 


vii., 


1. 


vii., 


6. 


vii., 


12. 



HOW TO UNFOLD OUR HIGHER SENSES 47 

Be peaceable. Matt. 

Be generous. 

Be loving. 

Be unostentatious. 

Be non-condemnatory. 

Be discriminating. 

Be altruistic. 

It is necessary to obey all of these commandments of the 
Saviour if we would build up our soul powers and our spirit- 
ual life, and these should go hand-in-hand, for psychism 
without spirituality may lead us into many temptations, and 
in the end only make magicians of us. Very marvellous 
powers, as well as extraordinary physical strength, have not 
always been used for a good end, are not always manifesta- 
tions of Spirit power from On High, but may be spirit power 
from below. For the attainment of our highest faculties we 
should follow the lead of those in the past who have suc- 
ceeded in bringing in light, of those who have used their God- 
given faculties for the betterment of their fellow-men. There 
are many such psychics ; though a large number of them are 
mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures this does not close the 
list. Yet, in the Bible, we find the fullest and best instruc- 
tion for the unfolding both of our mental and our spiritual 
powers. One command of Jesus is to close the door 
(Matt. vi. 6). This should be done for at least a short time 
each day. Not only should we shut out the commotion of our 
passions and emotions, but also we should silence our 
thoughts. It is on account of the great difficulty of shutting 
the door that so many psychics are taught in visions of the 
night, are spoken to in dreams (a half-sleeping, half-waking 
state wherein the spiritually-minded may come in close 
touch with the other world). 

A study of the lives of those who have attained tells us 
that the prophets and psychics of olden time lived very close 
to nature ; they either sought the mountain tops, the forests, 
or the river banks. They cared not for large houses in 



48 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

crowded cities. In absence of congenial surroundings men 
have ascended to the housetops to pray, notably, Peter in 
Joffa. 

Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about 
the sixth hour. Acts x., 9. 

Jesus bids us to be in the world, but not of the world, but 
this means not to betake ourselves to mountain tops or lonely 
forests, or to separate ourselves from our brother man con- 
tinually, not to be hermits or anchorites : yet we see that the 
Master, from time to time, retired to a mountain to pray, or 
went into the wilderness for self-mastery. Even he, the 
Perfect Man, had need of rest, of quiet, and of solitude. In 
all matters of psychic and spiritual unfoldment, Jesus, the 
God-man, the one who reconciled the Divine and the Human, 
is our Ensample. 



VI 
THE INTERIOR SENSES 

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having 
a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with 
the tongs from off the altar : 

Aiid he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, 
this hath touched thy lips. Isa. vi., 6-7. 

Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched 
my mouth : And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I 
have put my words into thy mouth. Jer. i., 9. 

And the angel of the Lord came again the second 
time, and touched him. I. Kings xix., 7. 



On the physical plane touch includes all the senses, though 
it is commonly used to indicate the muscular sense of feeling. 
All superforce comes in waves, and those waves are of differ- 
ent length and come with different degrees of velocity ; we 
are made conscious of the difference of these vibrations by 
the places in which they touch us. A sound wave, reaching 
the tympanum of the ear by means of the auditory nerve, is 
recorded on the brain, and we call that hearing. A much 
swifter wave, that of light, touching the retina of the eye, is, 
by means of the optic nerve, carried to the brain, and we 
have sight. Certain waves bearing odours come in contact 
with the olfactory nerve, and the sense of smell is called 
forth. Touch is not confined to the eyes or nose or ears or 
palate; it may fulfill its mission on any part of the physical 

49 



50 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

man: the ends of the fingers, the palm of the hand, the 
cheek, the lips, the sole of the foot — all are places so replete 
with nerves that when touched by a wave of superforce the 
response is such that the brain records a sensation, sometimes 
of pleasure, sometimes of pain. 

All physical senses have corresponding psychic and etheric 
senses. One who has no special supersense well developed, 
but who feels the psychic waves, or is touched by the odic 
force and gains information thereby, so that he says, "I 
sense this," or "I feel that so and so is near," or 'This is 
coming to pass," we call clair-sentient, that is, the way is 
clear for the higher senses to operate, though no one of them, 
as yet, predominates. Deborah, the one woman who judged 
Israel, was of this type. 

And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah 
between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim; 
and the children of Israel came up to her for judg- 
ment. Judg. iv., 5. 
A person who is clair-sentient may easily develop one or 
more etheric senses. The sense which is usually the easiest 
to bring forth is that of touch, and through that the other 
senses become alert, so that hearing or sight frequently 
follows. Which of these interior senses comes first depends 
largely upon the individual's own vibration. In the Bible 
very much is made of the psychic and etheric senses of touch. 
Elijah was helped and guided often by touch. 

And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, 
behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto 
him. Arise and eat. . . . 

And the angel of the Lord came again a second 
time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; 
because the journey is too great for thee. 

I. Kings xix., 5-7. 

It was after the second touch that Elijah arose and ate and 
drank and had sufficient strength for his forty days' fast. 
Ezekiel frequently refers to the sense of touch. 



THE INTERIOR SENSES 51 

So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and 
I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit; but 
the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. 

Ez. iii., 14. 

As I sat in mine house, and the Elders of Judah 
sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell 
there upon me. . . . 

And he put forth the form of an hand, and took 
me by a lock of mine head. Ez. viii., 1-3. 

There are several instances in which Ezekiel speaks of the 
spirit lifting him up, which may not in the least refer to any 
physical levitation, but to a sort of ecstacy, in which his spirit 
saw places at a distance. Isaiah describes his inspiration 
which came to him in a vision and through a touch. 

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having 
a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the 
tongs from off the altar : 

And he laid it upon my mouth, and said : Lo, this 
hath touched thy lips. Isa. vi., 6-7. 

Jeremiah also had the experience of being touched on the 
mouth. 

Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched 
my mouth. And the Lord said unto me : Behold, I 
have put my words in thy mouth. Jer. i., 9. 

It is curious to note that among the ancients in other 
nations the idea of inspiration coming through a touch on 
the lips was prevalent. In the life of Sophocles we read that 
a bee settled on his lips one day, and this gave his verse 
mellifluous flow. 

Of all the prophets and psychics spoken of in the Old 
Testament, no one refers to the gift of touch so often as 
Daniel. When talking to Gabriel, who with us is called " The 
Angel of the Annunciation," Daniel says: 

Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep 
sleep on my face toward the ground ; but he touched 
me, and set me upright. Dan. viii., 18. 



52 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Several years later Daniel writes : 

Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the 
man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the 
beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me 
about the time of the evening oblation. Dan. ix., 21. 

Again, in the time of Cyrus, Daniel tells us that while he was 
beside the river, and others with him, who did not see the 
vision that he saw, yet felt the quaking so that they were 
frightened and hid themselves : 

Behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon 
mine knees, and upon the palms of mine hands. 

Dan. x., 10. 

Daniel now listens to the angel's message, which so greatly 
impresses him that he tells us he set his face to the ground 
and became dumb: 

And behold, one like the similitude of the sons of 
men touched my lips ; then I opened my mouth, and 
spake and said unto him that stood before me, O my 
Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon 
me and I have retained no strength. Dan. x., 16. 

Here we are told that the angel's touch on Daniel's mouth 
loosened his tongue, yet revived not his strength. Some 
touches are evidently for inspiration, and may take the 
physical strength; other touches are to restore health and 
confidence and give strength. 

Then there came again and touched me one like 
the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. 

Dan. x., 18. 

The Supreme Psychic, the only Perfect Man who has 
manifested in the flesh, had the sense of touch so marvellously 
developed that he could, even while here on earth, do the 
things that the angels do for man, and more, for not only did 
he heal by touch, but those touching him received health. 

And as many as touched him were made whole. 

Matt, vi., 56. 



THE INTERIOR SENSES 53 

And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, 
saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately 
his leprosy was cleansed. Matt, viii., 3. 

And he touched her hand, and the fever left her. 

Matt, viii., 15. 

There are many instances given in the gospels where Jesus 
healed by touch ; one of special interest is when the woman 
touched the hem of his garment and was healed. Jesus felt 
it and asked: 

Who touched me? 

And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me; for 
I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. 

Luke viii., 45-46. 

At this time Jesus declared to the woman that it was her 
faith that made her whole, yet she surely received something 
from a touch, else why did the Master say, Virtue is gone out 
of me? 

To a certain extent the apostles had the gift of healing by 
touch ; also it was taught that spiritual gifts were conferred 
by the laying on of hands. 

And when they had prayed, they laid their hands 
on them. Acts vi., 6. 

Then laid they their hands on them, and they 
received the Holy Ghost. Acts viii., 17. 

Not only the apostles had such gifts, for when Paul was 
cured of his blindness it was by a man of Damascus, a 
disciple, but not an apostle. 

And Ananias went his way and entered into the 
house ; and putting his hands on him, said, Brother 
Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee 
in the way as thou earnest, has sent me, that thou 
mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the 
Holy Ghost. 

And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had 
been scales : and he received sight forthwith. 

Acts ix., 17, 18. 



54 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Laying on of hands played quite a part in the ritual of the 
Levite priest. 

And Aaron and his sons shall put their hands 
upon the head of the bullock. Ex. xxix., 10. 

And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head 
of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniqui- 
ties of the children of Israel. Lev. xvi., 21. 

There are many texts regarding the laying on of hands ; one 
is of much interest, showing that a spiritual gift may be 
communicated from man to man by touch. 

And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the 
spirit of wisdom: for Moses had laid his hands 
upon him. Deut. xxxiv., 9. 

Paul believed in this transference of spiritual power by 
means of touch. 

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was 
given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the 
hands of the presbytery. I. Tim. iv., 14. 

If the touch of man to man can be so potent, how much more 
may not the touch of a hand from the unseen mean? The 
touch of the angel guide may be felt when our own interior 
sense of touch is developed. 



VII 
INTERIOR SIGHT AND HEARING 

I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a 
dove. John i., 32. 

And I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth. 

Rev. ix., 1. 

I speak to the world those things which I have 
heard of him. John viii., 26. 

If any man have an ear, let him hear. 

Rev. xiii., 9. 

Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor 
seen his shape. John v., 37. 



There is very much more said regarding sight and hearing 
in the Scripture than about -any of the other interior senses ; 
they are by far the most important and usually the most 
developed, both on the physical and on the psychic planes, 
though earlier than sight or hearing comes touch, which we 
designate as feeling, and also taste in many animals comes 
before the eyes and ears are used ; this is because it is neces- 
sary that the proper ailment be chosen to preserve life. Smell, 
also, is needed as a protection and help in the building up of 
the physical nature. A relish for food is necessary to the 
preservation of life, and a keen scent aids in the finding of 
and the selection of fitting foods. While in all animals these 
two senses are strong, the refinement of them comes only to 
the human being, and the exquisite sensitiveness to taste and 
smell that can detect an almost imperceptible fragrance and 

55 



56 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

enjoy a very delicate flavour belongs to a highly-developed 
person. The ancient Hindu was taught that he might discern 
his spiritual state by the refinement of his sense of taste. 

(Bhagavad-Gita. Lesson xvii.) 

In the psychic world taste and smell are the last senses to 
develop, and are as yet dormant in most men, while the 
etheric senses of smell and taste are even more rarely mani- 
fested. In the Bible these senses are spoken of symbolically, 
where the sense of taste usually means perception. 

O taste and see that the Lord is good. 

Ps. xxxiv., 8. 
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 

I. Peter ii., 3. 
Tasted the good word of God. Heb. vi., 5. 

In one place taste signifies experience. ^ 

If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of 
death. John viii., 52. 

Even less is said of smell in the Bible, except in the Old 
Testament we are given to understand that sweet odours 
were acceptable unto the Lord. 

And the Lord smelled a sweet savour. 

Gen. viii., 21. 

An offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto 
the Lord. Lev. ii., 9. 

And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense 
every morning; when he dresseth the lamps, he 
shall burn incense upon it. Ex. xxx., 7. 

We find explicit directions in the Mosaic law for the com- 
pounding of incense and the burning of it both morning and 
evening; yet if the offering was not made in the right spirit 
it was not sweet. God requires the incense of the heart. 

To what purpose cometh there to me incense 
from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country ? 
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your 
sacrifices sweet unto me. Jer. vi., 20. 



INTERIOR SIGHT AND HEARING 57 

There is much stress laid on the necessity of opening the 
eyes and ears to spiritual things, and only a few men are 
mentioned in the Bible who had attained to etheric vision 
or hearing. Many then, as now, were totally unaware of 
their blindness and deafness ; they did not know of an eye 
and an ear that would give them understanding of things 
spiritual. Jeremiah hears the Lord saying: 

Hear now this, O foolish people and without 
understanding; which hath eyes, and see not; 
which have ears, and hear not. Jer. v., 21. 

Further this prophet says : 

To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that 
they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, 
and they cannot hearken. Jer. vi., 10. 

The Apostle Barnabas uses a similar expression when speak- 
ing of those who have attained to spiritual hearing. 

We therefore understand aright the command- 
ments, speak as the Lord would have us, wherefore 
he has circumcised our ears. Ep. of Bar. ix., 20. 

Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord telling him that some were 
not ready for the unfolding of their interior senses; it was 
not time for these to have perception. 

Lest they see with their eyes and hear with their 
ears, and understand with their hearts, and convert 
and be healed. Isa. vi., 10. 

As in the days of the prophets of Israel, so also when the 
Messiah had come, there were those whose time had not 
arrived for vision and hearing, whereby they could under- 
stand. The disciples say to Jesus : 

Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 

Matt, xiii., 10. 

It was after the Master had told the disciples why they had 
understanding that, speaking of the multitude, he says : 



58 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Therefore speak I to them in parables; because 
they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, 
neither do they understand. Matt, xiii., 13. 

Then, after quoting from Isaiah, Jesus adds: 

But blessed are your eyes, for they see ; and your 
ears, for they hear. Matt, xiii., 16. 

By this we are given to know that the Master considered the 
possession of eyes and ears that could perceive spiritual 
things a blessing. Another record of this conversation between 
Jesus and his disciples gives a slightly different wording: 

And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to 
know the mystery of the Kingdom of God: but 
unto them that are without, all these things are done 
in parables: 

That seeing they may see, and not perceive: 
and hearing they may hear, and not understand. 

Mark iv., 11-12. 

Evidently, from this saying of Jesus, all were not ready for 
that sight and that hearing which reveal the mysteries of the 
kingdom. Surely he knew, for of all the sons of men no one 
born of woman has said as much respecting hearing. 

As I hear, I judge : John v., 30. 

I speak to the world these things which I have 

heard of him. John viii., 26. 

That Jesus felt the spiritual dullness of his disciples we see 
from the following: 

Why do ye not understand my speech? even 
because ye cannot hear my word. John viii., 43. 

He that is of God heareth God's words: ye 
therefore hear them not, because ye are not of 
God. John viii., 47. 

Speaking of the Spirit of truth that was to come, Jesus says : 

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all truth : for he shall not speak 
of himself ; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall 
he speak. John xvi., 13. 



INTERIOR SIGHT AND HEARING 59 

The earliest mention made of hearing in the Bible is that of 
Adam and Eve : 

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walk- 
ing in the garden in the cool of the day. Gen. iii., 8. 

Doubtless Adam and Eve may have thought it was God's 
voice that they heard, though we know it was either the voice 
of one of His messengers or the voice of conscience. 

" Ye have neither heard his voice at any time" 

John v., 37- 

Noah and his sons heard a voice from heaven. 

And God blessed Noah and his sons. . . . 
And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with 
him. Gen. ix., i-8. 

Hagar talked with an angel. 

And the Angel of the Lord found her by a fountain 
of water in the wilderness. . . . 

And the Angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, 
thou art with child. Gen. xvi., 7, n. 

Although having a long conversation with the messenger 
from heaven, it is not said that Hagar saw the angel. The 
earliest mention in the Bible of anyone having the interior 
sense of sight is that of Abram, who was gifted with both 
ears that hear, and eyes that see. 

And he lift up his eyes and looked, and lo, three 
men stood by him. Gen. xviii., 2. 

Isaac and Jacob, as well as Abram, both had the interior 
sense of sight and hearing. Moses had phenomenal sight and 
hearing. His followers believed in his psychic powers, even 
unto the day of the appearing of the Christ. The Pharisees, 
not wishing to believe in Jesus, say : 

We know that God spake unto Moses; as for 
this fellow, we know not from whence he is. 

John ix., 29. 



60 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Joshua was also gifted with etheric sight and hearing. 

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, 
that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, 
there stood a man over against him with his sword 
drawn in his hand : and Joshua went unto him, 
and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our 
adversaries ? 

And he said, Nay : but as Captain of the host of 
the Lord am I now come. Jos. v., 13, 14. 

Elijah, who had strong psychic powers, and was sensitive to 
the touch of his angel guide, had also the interior voice. 

And after the earthquake a fire : but the Lord was 
not in the fire : and after the fire a still small voice 
. . . And behold, there came a voice unto him. 

I. Kings xix., 12, 13. 
Elisha asked for a double portion of his Master's spirit. 
Elijah knew that would mean etheric sight; this he could not 
feel sure that Elisha would gain. 

And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: 
nevertheless if thou see me when I am taken from 
thee, it shall be so with thee ; but if not, it shall not 
be so. II. Kings ii., 10. 

Elisha did see the chariot of fire and cried : 

My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and 
the horsemen thereof. II. Kings ii., 12. 

v'Jideon was especially favoured with interior senses. 

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, 
and said unto him. The Lord is with thee, thou 
mighty man of valour. Jud. vi., 12. 

Still, Gideon asked for tests, and received some very inter- 
esting ones. 

As a rule the development of psychic and etheric senses 
comes only with maturity, but children are sometimes so 
blessed. To Samuel the gift of hearing came when he was a 
child, and did not depart when he was old. He also, as a 
man, had sight and prescience. 



INTERIOR SIGHT AND HEARING 61 

Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day 

before Saul came, saying, To-morrow about this 

time I will send thee a man out of the land of 

Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain 

over my people Israel. I. Sam. ix.. 15, 16. 

Samuel saw plainly what should happen to Saul, and told 

him of the vision, predicting that the spirit of the Lord 

would come upon him. 

And it was so, that when he had turned his back 
to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart. 

I. Sam. x., 9. 

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel were all endowed with 

interior senses. Isaiah says : 

The Lord God hath opened mine ear. Isa. 1., 5. 

The Lord to Isaiah says : 

Hear, and your soul shall live. Isa. lv., 3. 

Of the people it is said: 

Hear, ye deaf : and look, ye blind, that ye may 
see. . . . 

Seeing many things, but thou observest not: 
opening the ears, but he heareth not. 

Isa. xlii., 18, 20. 
Ezekiel, whose etheric sight was very marvellous, and his 
visions deeply symbolic, tells us of hearing a voice of more 
than ordinary power. 

And I heard behind me a voice of great rushing. 

Ez. iii., 12. 

And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came 
from the way of the East : and his voice was like a 
noise of many waters: and the earth shined with 
his glory. Ez. xliii., 2. 

Daniel records his visions in plainer language than the other 

prophets. He tells us of his conversations with celestial 

visitors, and even describes their appearance. Once, in 

speaking of an angel, he says : 

And the voice of his words like the voice of a 
multitude. Dan. x., 6. 



62 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Daniel's hearing reminds us of that of St. John ; to neither 
of them was it a small voice. 

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard 
behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet. Rev. i., 10. 

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud 
voice. Rev. v., 2. 

And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through 
the midst of heaven. Rev. viii., 13. 

And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of 
many waters and as the voice of a great thunder: 
and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their 
harps. Rev. xiv., 2. 

And after these things I heard a great voice of 
much people in heaven. Rev. xix., 1. 

We see that John not only heard angels, but people that were 
in heaven. 

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multi- 
tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the 
voice of mighty thunderings, saying Alleluia: for 
the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Rev. xix., 6. 

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying: 
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he 
will dwell with them. Rev. xxi., 3. 

St. John had sight and hearing of the highest order; much of 
that he saw he describes in symbols, so that he who runs may 
read, but those whose time has not come may not understand. 
The things that he heard are easier to understand, though 
many times these things are told in esoteric language; yet 
much of what he heard, during the time of his vision, can be 
comprehended by the sincere student. 
Paul tells us that : 

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
Word of God. Rom. x., 17. 

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 

II. Cor. v., 7- 

As faith is of more importance than sight, according to St. 
Paul, it would seem that we might better cultivate our 



INTERIOR SIGHT AND HEARING 63 

hearing; yet, in speaking to those same people at another 
time, he says : 

While we look not at the things which are seen, 
but at the things which are not seen ; for the things 
which are seen are temporal ; but the things which 
are not seen are eternal. II. Cor. iv., 18. 

The Apostle Paul bids us all 

Covet earnestly the best gifts. I. Cor. xii., 31. 
While to him hearing may have been the best, to Peter sight 
was revelatory, for he saw heaven open and a vessel descend- 
ing, 

Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of 

the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and 

fowls of the air. Acts x., 12. 

It was this symbolic vision given to Peter, while he was in 

trance, that led the way for the conversion of the Gentiles, 

for after this the Apostle said: 

Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of 
persons, Acts x., 34. 

which truth, discerned by Peter so long ago, is more and 
more manifest to-day, for we find many learned and 
unlearned men and women using those organs that belong to 
the natural man, senses other than the physical, but in no way 
supernatural or supernormal ; for the interior senses, both 
the psychic and the etheric, belong to all when their spiritual 
nature is awakened. To these thus ready the words of Jesus 
are directed when he says : 

Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your 
ears, for they hear. Matt, xiii., 16. 

Far off thou art, but ever nigh; 
I have thee still, and I rejoice; 
I prosper, circled with thy voice, 
I shall not lose thee, tho' I die. 

In Memoriam cxxx. 
Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty ; they 
shall behold the land that is very far off. 

Isa. xxxiii., 17. 



VIII 
PSYCHOGRAPHY 

All this, said David, the Lord made me under- 
stand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the 
works of this pattern. I. Chron. xxviii., 19. 

And he called to the man clothed with linen, which 
had the writer's inkhorn by his side. Ez. ix., 3. 

And he said unto me, Write : for these words are 
true and faithful. Rev. xxi., 5. 



Writing is not a new art, as is sometimes taught. The very 
first man must have had some thoughts, and these were 
recorded on the ether, written in the book of life, though he 
were quite unconscious of the writing. All thought is written 
or photographed upon the etheric atmosphere which surrounds 
us. This is psychic writing, or psychography, and can only 
be read by those who come within our etheric wrap, whether 
Here or Over There, but it will be waiting for us when we go 
forth from our house of clay. Then we shall be able to judge 
for ourselves whether our thoughts have been worth record- 
ing or not, but, good or bad, this writing will greet us when 
we use our etheric vision. It is given to some to see the 
vision before they go Hence. 

Behold, an hand was sent unto me : and, lo a roll 
of a book was therein : 

And he spread it before me ; and it was written 
within and without ; and there was written therein 
lamentations and mournings and woe. Ez. ii., 9, 10. 

64 



PSYCHOGRAPHY 65 

And he caused me to eat that roll. 

And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly 
to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give 
thee. Then did I eat it ; and it was in my mouth 
as honey for sweetness. Ez. iii., 2, 3. 

It is interesting to compare the experience of St. John with 
that of Ezekiel when the book on which his deeds and 
thoughts were written was given him to eat. 

And I went unto the angel and said unto him, 
Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take 
it and eat it up : and it shall make thy belly bitter, 
but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 

And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, 
and ate it up : and it was in my mouth sweet as 
honey ; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was 
bitter. Rev. x., 9, 10. 

The symbolism of this suggests the truth, that many of our 
deeds which are sweet in the doing, of our thoughts that 
gratify us at the time, are ones that later on make for bitter- 
ness. It is a blessing that the writing on the ether is visible 
to very few in the flesh, else we might be too greatly dis- 
couraged, or our journey through life retarded. Yet how 
many heed their words, their thoughts, and their deeds, not 
realizing the why and the wherefore. The etheric substance, 
besides recording thought, is used by the spirit force to write 
with on the tablets of the heart, on the sensitive plate of 
the brain, on slates, on paper and on walls. A familiar case 
of wall-writing is that in Belshazzar's time at Babylon: 

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's 
hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon 
the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and 
the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 

Dan. v., 5. 

All the king's wise men were unable to read this writing. 
Then was Daniel called, who said : 

God, in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are 
all thy ways, hast thou not glorified ; 



66 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Then was the part of the hand sent from him; 
and this writing was written. Dan. v., 23, 24. 

Daniel did not doubt that this materialisation of fingers and 
the message written by them was from God. This is an 
unusual case, not to see writing, but to see the instrument 
that writes. 

Robert Dale Owen gives a chapter on this subject with 
many valuable instances of direct spirit writing (which is 
quite different from slate writing). One case is that of a 
French baron who had some five hundred specimens, mostly 
received in churches or historic residences. Also Mr. Owen 
gives a case coming under his own observation, where he saw 
a luminous hand write: this, in a dark room. On one 
occasion, by gaslight, Mr. Owen heard writing and felt the 
touch of a finger. He received this message: " The North 
will conquer," which was given September 3rd, 1861, just 
after the disaster at Bull Run. (The Debatable Land, pp. 
375-84). Though writing is seen on walls, on slates, on the 
hand or arm of the medium, all without any apparent instru- 
ment, more often the writing just appears before the eye of 
the seer, as if in the air. Constantine, we remember, saw a 
sentence written in the sky. The Scripture leads us to think 
that writing is often done in the Etheric World which is not 
seen by man's physical eye. 

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, 
and with the point of a diamond: it is graven 
upon the tablets of their heart, and upon the horns 
of your altars. Jer. xvii., 1. 

Psychography may be divided into three branches. First, 
the automatic, which is the lowest kind of psychic writing, 
and fraught with the most danger, as the psychic knows not 
who is guiding the pen or other instrument, and runs the risk 
of getting not only irrelevant and silly messages, but of 
coming into contact with elementals. All forms of slate 
writing, ouija boards, planchette, psycho, and pencils held 



PSYCHOGRAPHY 67 

by the subject, but used by the super force, are of this kind. 
Sometimes the automatic writing is good, sometimes evil, 
often neutral, but not to be trusted. Sometimes portraits 
are painted and drawings made more quickly than a human 
hand could draw or paint. Many instances of these phe- 
nomena are recorded by modern writers. One of the most 
interesting records of automatic writing given in Scripture 
is that of David getting the pattern of the Temple, which he 
gave to Solomon. 

And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit of 
the courts of the house of the Lord, . . . 

All this said David, the Lord made me understand 
in writing by his hand upon me s even all the works 
of this pattern. I. Chron. xxviii., 12, 19. 

The second kind of writing, which may be classed under 
psychography, is the impressionistic. This may come through 
audition, the subject hearing words before writing, which 
come slowly one or two at a time, and with no idea of what 
the context of the sentence is to be. Or the words may 
come in a flood, faster than the hand of the psychic can 
record them, so that the writing can scarcely be read. An 
example of the first is found in the books of William C. 
Comstock. Speaking of himself as the amanuensis for those 
in the wider life, he says: M It was not given to him as 
thought to be written out in his own words, but dictated to 
his mental hearing word by word, to be written just as it was 
received, as any dictation by man to man would be." (A 
Word for Help from the Wider World, p. 9.) 

We have an excellent example of an impressionistic writer 
in Moses. After he had broken the tablets of stone (said to 
have been written by the Lord), he went again to the Mount. 

And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these 
words; for after the tenor of these words, I have 
made a covenant with thee and with Israel. 

And he wrote upon the tables the words of the 
covenant. Ex. xxxiv., 27, 28. 



68 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

It was this second writing that is preserved to us in the ten 
commandments. Isaiah was directed to write (by impres- 
sion). 

Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a 
great roll, and write in it with a man's pen. 

Isa. viii., i. 

Jeremiah also, in late life, seems to have had this gift. 

Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, 
Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto 
thee in a book. Jer. xxx., 2. 

At times Jeremiah employed a scribe to write what he heard. 

And Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah 
all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken 
unto him, upon a roll of a book. Jer. xxxvi., 4. 

Jeremiah bids his scribe read the communications in the 
house of the Lord. The people, hearing the message, were 
so impressed they asked how it was received. 

Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all 
these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote 
them with ink in the book. Jer. xxxvi., 18. 

Evidently there was something ominous in the message, for 
the princes advised Baruch that he and Jeremiah hide. 
When the king was told of the writing he sent for the roll 
and bade his scribe read it to him. 

And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read 
three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and 
cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all 
the roll was consumed. Jer. xxxvi., 23. 

When Jeremiah was informed that the king had burned the 
message, he was told to rewrite it. 

Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to 
Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote 
therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words 
of the book which Jehoiakim, king of Judah, had 
burned in the fire; and there were added besides 
unto them many like words. Jer. xxxvi., 32. 



PSYCHOGRAPHY 69 

Ezekiel sees his angel guide, whom he thus describes : 

And behold the man clothed with linen, which had 
the inkhorn by his side, recorded the matter, saying, 
I have done as the Lord commanded me. Ez. ix., 1 1. 
More than once this prophet speaks of the man with the 
inkhorn who helped him to write. Ezekiel was gifted with 
conscious trance and wrote both from impression and inspira- 
tion. He tells of joining two sticks, which symbolised Israel 
and Judah. 

And the sticks whereon thou writes! shall be in 
thine hand before their ej Ez. xxxvii., 20. 

Habakkuk questioning what was the meaning of his vision, 
gives us the following: 

And the Lord .;i<l said, Write the 

d make it plain upon tabl( 
run that readeth it. Hah. ii., 2. 

In the Old Testament most of the writing is impressionistic, 

Xew Testament it i^ nearly all inspirational. We 

no longer fa !. or the 

word of the Lord thai ; Micah or Jonah. 

While in Isaiah m m than by impression, 

and the book ot* Daniel BCO record of what the man 

than what he heard ; in both of these prophets 
the impressionistic and inspirational are mixed, as, indi 
re. 

Pure in-pirational writing, the third and highest form of 
hograp 1 vhere no words are given, but the heart 

and the brain of t ] e 80 surcharged with spiritual 

influx that the writing cor; ige in the language 

of the scribe. The thought is then paramount, the words 
but vehicles. All real poetry, the best painting, the great 
architecture and sculpture, are inspirational writing. Without 
inspiration there is nothing original, for the pattern, the idea, 
is made in i 1 of spirit and is transmitted to the human 

brain when that is in condition to receive it, and given forth 



70 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

with the hands, the feet, the mouth, as the will of the indi- 
vidual directs or the talent decides, for sometimes the inspira- 
tion is even stronger than the will, so strong that the record 
is subconscious or even automatic, as in the case of writing 
while in trance. Of all the inspirational writings, no one book 
surpasses that of the Revelation of St. John. Though very 
largely inspirational, even this at times is impressionistic, for 
the writer transcribes what he sees, as well as what he is told. 

Write these things which thou hast seen, and the 
things which are, and the things which shall be 
hereafter. Rev. i., 19. 

St. John now seems to write from dictation. 

After this I looked, and behold, a door was 
opened in heaven. Rev. iv., 1. 

He then hears a voice bidding him to come up, and he tells 
us: 

Immediately I was in the spirit. Rev. iv., 2. 

Although John had been bidden to go up, he knew that even 
in spirit he was not in heaven, as he says : 

And I saw an angel come down from heaven. 

Rev. xx., 1. 

John had marvellous conscious vision, not only of the things 
that were, but of the future. He relates what he heard and 
what he saw largely in symbolic language, saying: 

Let him that hath understanding count the 
number of the beast. Rev. xiii., 18. 

Not only is his writing purposely veiled, but he was not 
permitted to record all that he saw and heard. 

I was about to write, and I heard a voice from 
heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which 
the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 

Rev. x., 4. 

That there is a psychography beyond that which mortal man 
is conscious of we see from such texts as the following: 



PSYCHOGRAPHY 71 

And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath 
sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 

Ex. xxxii., 33. 
Every one that shall be found written in the book. 

Dan. xii., I. 

And the dead were judged out of those things 

which were written in the books, according to their 

works. Rev. xx., 12. 

Speaking of what will be given to those who overcome, we 
read : 

And I will give him a white stone, and in the 
stone a new name written, which no man knoweth 
saving he that receiveth it. Rev. ii., 17. 

And I will write upon him the name of my God; 
and the name of the city of my God . . . And 
I will write upon him my new name. Rev. iii., 12. 

Whose names are not written in the book of life 
of the Lamb. Rev. xiii., 8. 

Later, St. John sees the Lamb standing on a mount, and with 
him those 

Having his Father's name written in their fore- 
head-. Rev. xiv., 1. 

So it would seem that already in John's day some had 
attained to the blessed state of having God's name 'Written 
upon thou. 



IX 
CELESTIAL MUSIC 

When the morning stars sang together, and all the 
sons of God shouted for joy. Job xxxviii., 7. 

I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, 
saying, Alleluia ; Salvation, and glory, and honour, 
and power, unto the Lord our God. Rev. xix., 1. 



Although there are but a few instances w T here music is 
mentioned in the Bible as having any spiritual significance, 
we see that its use was known in early days as an aid to 
psychic manifestations. When Jehoshaphat was inquiring 
for a prophet, a servant of the king of Israel said : 

Here is Elisha, the son of Shaphat, which poured 
water on the hands of Elijah. II. Kings iii., 11. 

Then when the three kings of Judah, of Israel, and of Edom, 
came to Elisha to inquire of him, before the prophet answered 
their questions he said : 

But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to 
pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of 
the Lord came upon him. II. Kings iii., 15. 

That other prophets used music when prophesying we learn 
from what Samuel said to Saul : 

When thou art come hither to the city that thou 
shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from 
a high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, 
and a harp, before them ; and they shall prophesy. 

72 



CELESTIAL MUSIC 73 

And the spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, 
and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be 
turned into another man. I. Sam. x., 5, 6. 

That music has a psychic, as well as a soothing, effect on 
Saul, we see from the narrative where his servants, perceiving 
that he was not himself, recommended music as a cure. 

d Saul'.- iid unto him. Behold now 

an evil spi »d troubleth tin 

<»ur Lord v. servants, which 

k out a man who is a cunning 

pla; ad it shall come to pass, when 

n God i- at he -hall 

play with his hand, and tli ell. 

I. Sam. xvi., 15, 16. 

That Saul thought his sen hi in their idea that 

music would drive away the evil spirit is apparent. 

And Saul said unto his se me now 

man that ca . and bring him to me. 

1 one of t! 1 said, 

T.' hold seen a SOfl 01 

mite, that is cunning in playing 1 Sam. wi . 17, 18. 

umerates all of David's exec' 1 
qua > Samuel is only too anxious to know the shepherd 

lad, whose unusual cunning with the harp, as with his other 
more than ordinary git because the Lord was with him. 

1 it came to pass, when the evil spirit from 
God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and 
pla and : so Saul w nd 

11, and the evil spirit d from him. 

I. Sam. xvi., 23. 

e we are taught that 1 irtb music may be used to 

drive away evil spirits. That song was inspired we see in 
the account of Moses and Miriam singing, after the passage 
of the Israelites over the Red Sea. 

Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this 
song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing 



74 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: 
the horse and rider hath he thrown into the sea. 

Ex. xv., i. 

And Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, 
took a trimbrel in her hand: and all the women 
went out after her with timbrels and with dance. 

And Miriam answered them. Sing ye to the Lord, 
for he hath triumphed gloriously. Ex. xv., 20, 21. 

After the prophetess, Deborah, had helped Barak defeat the 
armies of Sisera, she sang inspirationally : 

Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel 
when the people willingly offered themselves. 

Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I 
even I, will sing unto the Lord ; I will sing praise 
to the God of Israel. Jud. v., 2, 3. 

While there is no mention in the Old Testament of angels 
singing, or of anyone who heard music from another plane, 
yet all inspirational song or playing must have spirit power 
behind it. There are some accounts in later times of those 
who were taught music by angels. Conspicuous among these 
favoured ones is Csedmon, an early English poet. Very 
humble was the position that Csedmon held in a monastery, 
for we hear that "Having gone to the stable, where he had to 
take care of the horses that night, he there composed himself 
to rest at the proper time ; a person approached him in his 
sleep, and saluting him by name, said : ' Csedmon, sing some 
song to me.' He answered, 'I cannot sing, for that was the 
reason why I left the entertainment and retired to this place, 
because I could not sing.' The other who talked to him 
replied, 'However, you shall sing/ 'What shall I sing?' 
rejoined he. 'Sing the beginning of created beings/ said the 
other. Whereupon he presently began to sing verses to the 
praise of God." (Bede's eccl. his., b. IV, chap, xxiv.) 

Of St. Dunstan it is told that an angel asked him why he 
did not sing, and when he replied that he was ignorant and 
could not sing, the angel taught him the hymn that he had 



CELESTIAL MUSIC 75 

heard the angelic choir singing. The next day St. Dunstan 
sang the hymn to his monks. Again, it is related that one 
day this saint's harp hanging on the wall played to him the 
hymn "Gaudete animi" (Clement, A handbook of Legen- 
dary Art). At the funeral of Thomas a Becket, according to 
tradition, as his body was borne to the tomb angels were 
heard singing the beginning of the Service of the Martyrs. 
The monks were for a moment amazed ; they ceased their 
funeral hymn; then, as if inspired, they joined their voices 
with the angelic hymn, (dement, A handbook of Legendary 
Art.) 

Of St. Fursey we read : "And quitting his body from the 
evening "til the cock crew, he was found worthy to behold the 
choir of angels and to hear the praises which are sung in 
heaven." (Bede, b. III., chap, xix.) Owini (formally the 
prime minister to Queen Ethel f red) came with axe and 
hatchet in his hand to reside in the DKM , where he 

laboured with 1 Is. One day, when all the monks had 

gone to church, and the bishop (afterwards St. Chad) was 
alone in his oratory, praying, Owini heard ringing, to which 
he listened for a half an hour. "Perceiving the same song 
of joy to ascend from the roof of the oratory and to return to 
heaven, the same way it came, with inexpressible sweetness. " 
Soon after this, being summoned by the bishop, "he who had 
heard the heavenly song," asked the Venerable Chad what 
was the meaning of this ; the bishop said, "They were angelic 
spirits, who came to call me to my heavenly reward, which 
I have always longed after, and they promised they would 
return seven days hence and take me away with them," 
which was accordingly fulfilled. (Bede, b. IV., chap, iii.) 

From this record it would appear that both the humble 
monk Owini and the venerable Bishop Chad heard the same 
angelic choir. There are instances given by reverent writers 
of a number of persons hearing the celestial singing at the 
same time. When Earcongota, a saintly virgin, "departed 



76 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

to the light of heaven many of the brethren of that monastery 
that were in the other houses declared they had then plainly 
heard concerts of angels singing/' (Bede, b. III., chap, x.) 

The ability to hear celestial music is not confined to the 
saints of former days. We frequently hear of some one near 
the point of death hearing sweet music. It is not necessary 
to wait until the moment that the soul is departing from the 
body to hear the celestial choirs. A young woman, who has 
lately gone into the Wider Life, used frequently to speak of 
hearing a voice of chanting, which she said she felt sure was 
from one of the "Brothers of Light." She had been told by 
a spiritual teacher, from the Orient, that she would in time 
hear the celestial chant. Two women living close to nature, 
in a lonely mountain house far removed from human habita- 
tion, declared that sometimes in the dead of night they were 
awakened by hearing a remarkable male voice chanting in a 
sweet way. This seemed to come from a great distance, and 
they felt sure it was from another sphere, as it was unlike 
anything of earth. 

A perfectly well authenticated case is that of an American 
woman who was praying in a cathedral in Florence, Italy ; 
she was so enchanted by music, which she thought proceeded 
from behind the altar, that she remained on her knees a long 
time. A friend with her, becoming impatient, said, "Do not 
pray all day." Going without, the woman said, "I was not 
praying then ; I was listening to that exquisite music. Did 
you ever hear such an orchestra in church?" The friend 
looked at the listener in a searching way, then said, "There 
was no music; are you crazy?" Now, the woman knew 
she had heard celestial music, for once before, in a time of 
great grief, she had heard the heavenly choir. 

Music is everywhere, if we but have ears to hear. The 
Pythagorean teaching regarding the "Music of the Spheres" 
finds a counterpart in the utterance of Job : 

When the morning stars sang together and all 
the sons of God shouted for joy. Job xxxviii., 7. 



CELESTIAL MUSIC 77 

So it may be that not only men and angels sing, and play on 
instruments that give forth sweet sounds, but that the stars 
in their motion utter harmonious strains. That the celestial 
choirs may be heard by those still in the flesh we learn from 
St. John's experience : 

The four b rid four and twenty elders fell 

down before the Lamb, having every one of th 
harps, and golden full of odours, which are 

the prayers of the 

And they sung a new song 

1 1 he! <• ol many 

angels round about i ] ad the I ml 

theeld* I the nut: a thousand 

times ten thorn ids. 

Rev. \ ii. 

Besides the angels the throne, St. John heard 

those sing who had gotten tl 

of God. 

song of 14 vant of 

God. and : I ireat and 

mai Lord ( e><l Almighty; 

-. thou King oi 

I I heard as it were the voice of a great multi- 
tud many I the 

voice of mighty thunderi Alleluia; for 

the Lord Ciod Omnip« h. R< 6 

It is not given to every child of God, while still on earth, 
to 1 venly c 1 not 

be an apostle, nor even a saint, to hear celestial am 

v humble t-ven the :iorant, that have these 

ts« It was not Augustus in Imperial Rome, nor II 
his thn alem, nor even the M 

angels sing on the night when Christ was born. 
It v. ii the plains of Judca that heard this song. 

After these simple men had received the news that the Long 



78 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Expected One was born and had been told by an angel where 
to find Him, 

Suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of 
the heavenly host praising God and saying, 

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, 
goodwill towards men. Luke ii., 13, 14. 



X 

ANGELOPHANIES 

And he said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto 
you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the 
angels of God ascending and descending upon the 
Son of Man. John i., 51. 



We might say apparitions or epiphanies, as well as angelo- 
phanies, when speaking of the appearances of angels, but the 
term apparition is too often associated with terror, as is that 
of ghost. Yet we know that ghost means guest, and when we 
Holy Ghost we think of the most desirable of guests. 
rd epiphany has in the Christian Church come to mean 
that commemorates the Manifestation 
of Christ to the Gentiles, though in Greek the word epiphany 
means a shining forth and may be used of any phenomenal 
appearance. Robert Dale Owen, in speaking of the "Epipha- 
nies of Spiritualism,- says. "What power have we weak 
mortals, who must sit still and see winds and waves fulfil 
their mission, to control the agency of disembodied spirits? 
Shall we set about considering whether we shall accept the 
epiphany of the rainbow or the apparition of the Aurora 
Borealis?" (The Debatable Land, pp. 236-7.) 

Angels have doubtless appeared even before man on this 
planet was here to see them. In the early Hindu literature 
the "shining ones" are spoken of an beneficent beings. We 
no longer consider the Bible the oldest book in the world, 

79 



80 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

yet, when we think of the story of Eden, it seems a long time 
ago. In this account of the home of Adam and Eve we are 
told that cherubims with flaming sword guarded the tree of 
life. (Gen. Hi., 24.) It is not said that Adam and Eve saw 
the angel, but from the days of Abram on there are numer- 
ous epiphanies of men and angels from other spheres seen by 
men and women here. Of Abraham it is said : 

Three men stood by him : and when he saw them, 
he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed 
himself towards the ground. Gi:n. xviii., 2. 

Of two of these men it is said later : 

And there came two angels to Sodom at even : 
and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Gen. xix., 1. 

Of Isaac we read : 

And the Lord appeared unto him. Gen. xxvi., 2. 

One of the most distinct teachings regarding intercom- 
munication of the spheres is that of Jacob's ladder. He saw 
the angels of God ascending as well as descending. (Gen. 
xxviii., 12.) In this vision it was given Jacob to know that 
men pass from earth to heaven as angels, and that angels 
sometimes come from heaven to earth as men. The patriarch 
recognized angels in his waking as well as in his sleeping 
hours. He knew that they had appeared to his ancestors, 
and he was not unprepared for their visits to him. After his 
long sojourn with Laban, when he was journeying toward 
Canaan and met angels on his way, he says: 

This is God's host. Gen. xxxii., 2. 

It was not alone to the children of Israel, to the patriarchs, 
or to their famous leaders, Moses and Joshua, that angels 
appeared, for when the psychic Balaam was on his way to 
obey the behest of the king of Moab, to curse the children of 
Israel, the Lord, desiring to use his power for the benefit of 
the chosen people, sent an angel to guide him. When Balaam 
failed to follow this leading, 



ANGELOPHANIES 81 

Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam and 
he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way. 

Num. xxii., 31. 

Angels visited Elijah and talked with him: 

And the angel of the Lord came again ond 

time and touched him and said, / nd eat 

I. Kings xix., 7. 

While many of the prophets speak of hearing the voice of one 
of God's messengers, and seem to be fully conscious that the 
word spoken is inspired, the sight of the heavenly visitors is 
not given to all, and seldom is the appearance of the angel 
described. Daniel, wh< »t only gifted with the interior 

senses of touch and hearing, but also thai of sight, d< 

boom length* (Sc 1.) In t 

book o: in no other 

John, do we find the :>tion of 

\\\u ■ to the accounts in tl nent, 

angelophan of more vital interest to us. The first 

that to Zacharias: 

1 there appeared unto him an angel of 
rd standing on the right side of tl 
incense. Luke i.. 11. 

This was 1 of the 

something more than a vision in tl not JUSt a waking 

dream, for we are told that the aged pi and 

fear fell upon him, and that the angel »me length, 

lorn do we 

IT the names of an^ n. Oft and 

withheld, but this celestial visitor announa 

I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God ; 
and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee 
these glad tidh: Luke i., 19. 

The epiphanies of no angel have been of more interest to 
mankind at large than those of Gabriel. It was he that came 



82 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

to the Holy Maid of Nazareth to tell her she was chosen of 
the Lord to be the Mother of the Messiah. 

And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, 
thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee : 
Blessed art thou among women. 

And when she saw him, she was troubled at his 
saying. Luke i., 28, 29. 

All through the legendary accounts of the life of the Virgin 
it is said that angels taught her and fed her, and were her 
constant companions. 

For she every day had the conversation of angels 
and every day received visitors from God. 

(The Gospel of the Birth of Mary, chap, v., 2.) 

According to the story in the Apocryphal New Testament, 
an angel foretold the birth of Mary, first to Joachim. 

On a certain day when he was alone, the angel of 
the Lord stood by him with a prodigious light. 

To whom being troubled at the appearance of the 
angel who had appeared to him, endeavouring to 
compose him, said: 

Be not afraid, Joachim, nor troubled at the sight 

of me, for I am an angel of the Lord sent by him to 

you, that I might inform you, that your prayers are 

heard, and your alms ascended in the sight of God. 

(The Gospel of Mary, ii., 1-3.) 

After going somewhat into family history, the angel bids 
Joachim to meet his wife at the golden gate of Jerusalem. 
There are many beautiful paintings which record this meeting. 

Afterwards the angel appeared to Ann, his wife, 
saying, Fear not, neither think that which you see 
is a spirit ; 

For I am that angel which hath offered up your 
prayers and alms before God, and am now sent to 
you that I may inform you, that a daughter will be 
born unto you, who shall be called Mary, and shall 
be blessed above all women. 

(The Gospel of Mary, iii., 1, 2.) 



ANGELOPHANIES 83 

The angel that appeared to the parents of the Blessed Virgin 
did not give his name, as did the one appearing to Zacharias 
and to Mary. At the time of the birth of Jesus, when an 
angel appears to the shepherds of Judea, we are not told how 
many saw the angel, but presumably more than one saw the 
light, for it is said : 

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, 
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: 
and they were sore afraid. Luke ii., 9. 

After the angel had given his message and told the shepherds 
where they would find the new-born Babe, the Scripture 
saith : 

And suddenly ther nth the angel a multi- 

tude of the heavenly host praising God. Luke ii., 13. 

That more than one angel appeared at this time, and that the 
shepherds did not mistake them for demons, we learn from 
what followed : 

And it came to pass as the angt gone away 

from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to 
another, Let u go even unto Bethlehem, and 

see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord 
hath made known unto us. Luke ii., 15. 

It can hardly be doubted that Jesus saw angels. He who 
was so fully conscious, so spirit filled, who constantly heard 
the Voice, must have m 

I speak to the world those things which I have 
heard of him. John viii., 26. 

Angels were constantly ministering to Jesus, and he knew he 
could have as many as he needed. 

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my 
Father, and he shall presently give me more than 
twelve legions of angels? Matt, xxvi., 53. 

It is noticeable that all four of the gospels speak of angels 
that appeared at the time of the resurrection of the Lord. 



84 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Sometimes the appearance of the angel is described : 

His countenance was like lightning and his 
raiment white as snow. Matt, xxviii., 3. 

The women who came to Jesus' tomb saw a vision. 

And entering into the sepulchre they saw a young 
man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long 
white garment; and they were affrighted. 

Mark xvi., 5. 

The women who came on the third day to anoint the body 
found the tomb empty. 

And it ca;me to pass as they were much perplexed 
thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in 
shining garments. Luke xxiv., 4. 

Mary Magdalene, coming early, looked into the sepulchre 

And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at 
the head, and the other at the feet, where the body 
of Jesus had lain. 

And they said unto her, Woman, why weepest 
thou? John xx., 12, 13. 

Angels also appeared at the Ascension. 

And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven 
as he went up, behold two men stood by them in 
white apparel ; 

Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye 
gazing up into heaven? Acts i., 10, 11. 

But angels appeared to others besides the prophets and the 
apostles and holy women of Galilee. Of Cornelius, a cen- 
turion of the Italian band, we read : 

He saw in a vision, evidently about the ninth 
hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him. 

Acts x., 3. 

Nor did angels' visits cease after the days of the holy men of 
Bible times. Yet the visions and miracles of the Middle 
Ages are so wreathed round with myth that it is difficult to 
distinguish between reality and imagination. The legendary 



ANGELOPHANIES 85 

accounts of angelophanies fill many volumes. We might 
mention a few to show that angels' visits continued even 
after the apostolic age. 

A legendary appearance in the sixth century beheld by 
St. Gregory, that seems almost historical, is that of the 
archangel Michael alighting on the top of Hadrian's tomb at 
Rome, where he sheathed his sword and the plague was 
ed. This mausoleum has ever since been called The 
Castle of Saint Angelo. St. Fursey of Ireland is said to have 
seen combats of evil spirits, while the angels were with him 
protecting him. In his life we read that " of many things he 
was informed by the angels and and just men who 

appeared to him among tl (Bede's Eccl. His., 

p. 140.) In the seventh o iking of Chad, Bishop 

of the Mercians, the most Rev. Father Egbert said, " 1 know 
a man in this island, .still in the flesh, who, when that prelate 
passed out of t the soul of his brother t\(U\, 

with a company of angels, descending from heaven, who, 
having with them, returned hither 

again." ( Bede's Feci. His., p. 178.) 

ive preserved for us 
the legend tha; hony 01 I' 1 by angels 

and had a vision of the child J . hile to-day on the 

battlefields of France man] are recorded of 

wounded and dying soldiers seeing their angel guides. And 
what said Jesus prophetically of the appearance of angels? 
Speaking to Nathaniel: 

And he saith unto him, Verily, verily I say unto 
you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the 
angels of God ascending and descending upon the 
Son of man. John i., 51. 

I will not leave you comfortless ; I will come 
to you. John xiv., 18. 



XI 
SUPERFORCE 

The God of glory thundereth. Ps. xxix., 3. 

And the posts of the door moved, at the voice of 
him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 

Isa. vi., 4. 

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as 
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house 
where they were sitting. Acts ii., 2. 



We are wont to think of God as silent and far away. We 
no longer speak of God as " The Thunderer " or " The Cloud 
Compeller " ; we feel that these epithets belong to the heathen 
world, although in the Old Testament God is credited with 
thundering for a purpose. 

God thundereth marvellously with his voice. 

Job. xxxvii., 5. 

For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to 
hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even 
the noise of a great host. II. Kings vii., 6. 

We are prone to think of the Christian God as residing in 
heaven, in a state of endless bliss. We say we believe in the 
Omnipresence, but really we do not, for we invent devils 
and demons and deacas and " mortal minds " to explain the 
motions of God's hand, which we do not understand, and 
which we think to be disastrous or not in keeping with the 
Almighty Father. Job believed that God was in the hurricane 

86 



SUPERFORCE 87 

as well as in the gentle breeze of spring. Isaiah recognized 
God as the creator of evil as well as good. If we search the 
Scriptures we shall find a number of instances of superforce, 
sometimes of a destructive character, whereby Gqd, through 
his angelic host, shows forth his power, which, even in the 
storm, in battle, in sickness, and in death, works for the 
betterment of the world and the progress of his creatures. 

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness. 

Isa. xlv , 3, 
I have sent among you the pestilence after the 
manner of Egypt ; your young men have 1 slain 
with the sword. 

I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew 
Sodom and Gomorrah, and yc were as a firebrand 
plucked out of the burning. Amos i\\, 10, 1 1. 

And he doetfa great wonders, so that he maketh 
fire conn down from heaven on the earth in the 
sight of men. Rev. xiii., 13, 

That the children of Israel might be free from their bond 
the angel of the Lord, by the hand of Moses and of Aaron. 
brought grit ipon Pharaoh's house and the land 

of Egypt. Not only were and flies and lice and hail 

and darkness brought forth at the call of these psychics, bin 
constan Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. 

dtheLoi onto Mioses, Pharaoh -hall not 

irken unto J may he multi- 

plied in the land of Egypt. Ex. xi., 9. 

Not only would the Lord bring his children out of bondage, 
but he desired to show forth his wonders, so that Pharaoh 
might see that he, the Lord God, was more powerful than the 
gods of that land. It was not until God sent the angel of 
death to the king's house that Pharaoh said : 

Rise up, and get you forth from among my people. 

Ex. xii., 31. 

After using force in a destructive way, but for a good 
purpose, it was turned into a protective power. 



THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

And the angel of God, which went before the 
camp of Israel, removed and went behind them ; 
and the pillar of the cloud went from before their 
face and stood behind them. . . . 

It was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave 
light by night to these. Ex. xiv., 19, 20. 

This instance shows us that the same thing which to God's 
own is light to his enemies is dark. It depends upon where 
we are in our spiritual life whether God's light is a cloud to 
us or a light. The psalmist says : 

The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. 

Ps. cxxxix., 12. 
Job says : 

And caused the light of his cloud to shine. 

Job xxxvii., 15. 
In the wonders that God performs through his chosen children 
we see that their co-operation is useful and necessary. 

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea : 
and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong 
east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land 
and the waters were divided. . . . 

And the Lord said unto Moses, stretch out thine 
hand over the sea, that the waters may come again 
upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon 
their horsemen. Ex. xiv., 21, 26. 

That there was enough water to drown all the host of Egypt 
we see by this. Almost more w r onderful than the control of 
the waters of the sea was the finding of water by striking the 
rock. Here not only the human hand co-operates with the 
divine Will, but also a mechanical means is used. The Lord 
told Moses to take his rod and smite the rock, that the 
children of Israel might have water to drink. (Ex. xvii.,2-6.) 
Later, when Moses was again reproached that he gave them 
no water, the Lord said : 

Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly 
together, thou and Aaron thy brother ; and speak ye 
unto the rock before their eyes: and it shall give 



SUPERFORCE 89 

forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to th 
ter out of the rock. Num. xx., 8. 

It was with the rod of God " that Joshua performed 

marvellous feats. He also used trumpets, for he was in- 
structed by the Lord'- iger in the laws of acoustics. 
(Joshua vi.. 13-20.) 

And it cam* nth time, when the 

pri trumps hua said unto 

: for the Lord hath given you the 
city. . . . 

So the peoj - blew with 

the tn: pie 

pie 
th a gr it, that the wall tell down 

Jos. vi., 16, 20. 

Gideon of tru: 

and 
he 1 trump 

•t him. J ltd. vi., 34, 

'eon not only U1 but 

within ' 

pit Jud. vii., i 

! his 
men to do d. 

When I Mow with a trim 
with n 
le of all imp and >rd of the 

Lord and of Gideon. Jud. vii., 18. 

Strength came through working in harmony, also in the 
power of the spoken word, which i^ fully demonstrated, for 
the end of the - 

And all the host ran. and cried, and fl 

Jud. vii., 21. 



90 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

We are reminded of the journey the Greek heroes made for 
the Golden Fleece. These men were able to row between 
dangerous rocks when Orpheus played on his harp. The 
power of harmony and rhythm is here shown. 

Samson, who had unusual bodily strength, at times used 
mechanical means. 

And he found a new jaw bone of an ass, and put 
forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men 
therewith. Jud. xv., 15. 

Yet Samson gave credit for his great feat where credit 
belonged, for he called upon the Lord and said : 

Thou hast given this great deliverance into the 
hand of thy servant. Jud. xv., 18. 

Samson's use of the superforce was nearly always physical, 
and produced through his healthy body by his physical guide 
(not his guardian angel) ; Samson, like Achilles of old, 
prayed for vengeance, forgetting that the Lord says : I will 
repay. So it was that his great strength was used for 
destruction. 

And he bowed himself with all his might and the 
house fell upon the lords and upon all the people 
that were therein : So the dead that he slew at his 
death were more than they which he slew in his life. 

Jud. xvi., 30. 

David, like Samson, showed unusual strength in slaying. 

I caught him by the beard and smote him, and 
slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the 
bear. . . . 

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a 
sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine and 
slew him. I. Sam. xvii., 35, 50. 

We are told that David asked for guidance in his days of 
battle. 

And when David enquired of the Lord, he said, 
Thou shalt not go up : but fetch a compass behind 



SUPERFORCE 91 

them, and come upon them over against the mul- 
berry trees. 

And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of 
agoing in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then 
thou shalt bestir thyself. 

II. Sam. v., 23, 24. 
I. Chron. xiw, 14. 15. 

Noise in trees, as a means of communication, w by 

the ancient Greeks. David had sufficient psychic power to 
gain superforce when instructed by his angel guide. 

I David built there an altar unto the Lord, and 
offered burnt offering and nd 

called upon the Lord; and h him from 

hea fire upon t! of burnt oiTerir 

I. Chron. xxi., 26. 

Solomon had a like expt 

Now when Solomon had made an 1 nd of praying, 
the lown L and consumed the 

burnt 1 and the jlory of the 

rd tilled II. Chron. vii., 1. 

Elijah was early taught that Miperforce need not be a 

of the lid to him : 

Go forth and stand U] mount the 

1 behold the Lord passed by, and a ^reat 
and rent the mountain and brake in 

pieces * rd ; but the Lord was 

not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake, 
but not in the earthquake: 

a fire ; but the i /-rd 
was not in the fire; and after the tire, a >till small 

An ', when Elijah heard it. that he 

wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and 
stood in the entering in of the cave. And behold, 
there cam- e unto him, and said, What doest 

thou here, Elijah? I. Kings xix , 1 1 - 1 3. 

The mantle which Elijah used to aid him in psychic manifes- 



92 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

tations attracted superforce even after he had gone Beyond, 

for we read of Elisha : 

And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from 
him. and smote the waters, and said, Where is the 
Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten 
the waters, they parted hither and thither and 
Elisha went over. II. Kings ii., 14. 

Elisha was taught that while mechanical means might help 
in destruction, also, in partial good ; that when the highest 
good was desired his own interior force must be in accord 
with the superforce. Sent he not his staff by his servant to 
place upon the dead child's face, yet life was not restored? 
When he went in, and prayed, and gave of himself, the 
child's life came back. (II. Kings iv., 29-36.) 

That angels could do works that required force we see in 
the story of Daniel ; after a night in the lions' den he said : 

My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the 
lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me : 

So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no 
manner of hurt was found upon him, because he 
believed in his God. Dan. vi., 22, 23. 

Nor do marvels cease when we come to the Christian era. 
Of the pool of Bethesda at Jerusalem it is said : 

For an angel went down at a certain season into 
the pool and troubled the water : whosoever then first 
after the troubling of the water stepped in was made 
whole of whatsoever disease he had. John v., 4. 

Healing by means of magnetised water was used by some of 
the mediaeval saints. (Bede, b. v., chap. 4.) It is also used 
to-day by psychic physicians. 

The first record of Jesus using superforce was at the mar- 
riage in Cana of Galilee. 

And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus 
saith unto him, They have no wine. . . . 

Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with 
water. And they filled them up to the brim. 



SUPERFORCE 93 

And he saith unto them. Draw out now, and bear 
unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 

When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water 
that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, 
(but the servants which drew the water knew) the 
governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 

And saith unto him. Every man at the beginning 

doth set forth good wine; and when men have well 

drunk, then that which sc: but thou hast kept 

good wine until now. John ii., 3, 7-10. 

many occasions Jesus made use of superforce ; often 
through the spoken word. 

:non answering, said unto him, Master, we 
have toiled all the night and ha n nothing, 

nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net. 

i when they had this done they inclosed a 
it multitude of fishes and their net brake. 

Luke v., 5, 6. 

At another time Jesus stilled the waves by the spoken word. 

i behold, there arose a great tempest in the 
sea, insomuch that tl covered with 

p. 

e to him and awoke him, 
ing, Lord, gave ua . 

them. Why are ye fearful, O 
•h? Then he arose, and rebuked the 
winds and the ilm. 

Ma 24-26. 

nore remarkable instance of the use of this mysterious 
force (som die fore ated by three evan- 

-ts. 

But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, 
tossed by wave- ; for the wind was contrary. 

And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went 
unto them, walking on the sea. 

And when the disciples saw him walking on the 
sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit ; and 
tht I out for fear. 



94 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, 
Be of good cheer; it is I ; be not afraid. 

Matt, xiv., 24-27. 

That the disciples who were daily with the Lord should have 
been afraid, and thought they saw something supernatural, 
suggests that Jesus, through a force that we do not as yet 
understand, was able to make his natural body lighter at 
will. Though very many marvels were performed, and great 
mastery of the force from the Overworld was shown by 
Jesus, yet that manifested in his life did not compare to that 
which came after he had suffered on the cross. 

And the sun was darkened and the veil of the 
temple was rent in the midst. . . . 

Luke xxiii., 45. 

And they said among themselves, Who shall roll 
us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 

And when they looked, they saw that the stone 
was rolled away : for it was very great. 

Mark xvi., 3, 4. 

And behold there was a great earthquake, for the 
angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came 
and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat 
upon it. Matt, xxviii., 2. 

And they found the stone rolled away from the 
sepulchre, 

And they entered in and found not the body of 
the Lord Jesus. Luke xxiv., 2, 3. 

And seeth the stone taken away from the 
sepulchre. John xx., 1. 

In only two gospels are we told the story of the birth of 
Jesus, but in four are the wonders of the resurrection related, 
and angels credited with using superforce. 

This same force was employed in apostolic days by angel 
guides and also by the apostles themselves, aided by angels. 
When Peter was in prison, sleeping between two soldiers, 
bound with two chains, and keepers before the prison doors, 
the Scripture says : 



SUPERFORCE 95 

And behold, the Angel of the Lord came upon 
him and a light shined in the prison: and he smote 
Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, Arise 
up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 

Acts xii., 7. 

When they were passed the first and the second 
ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto 
the city; w r hich opened to them of his own accord. 

And when Peter was come to himself, he said, 
Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent 
his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of 
Herod. Acts xii., 10, 11. 

This miracle is most beautifully portrayed in a mural 
painting by Raphael in the Vatican. The amount of light 
shown in the picture tells us that even in the age when devils 
were believed in, rather more than angels, Raphael felt sure 
that this angel was one of light. 

Superforce is used often without the hand of the angel 
being seen. When Paul and Silas were in prison, having 
received many stripes, their feet being made fast in the 
stocks, a miracle occurred. 

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang 
praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. 

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so 
that the foundations of the prison were shaken; 
and immediately all the doors were opened, and 
every one's bands were loosed. Acts xvi., 25, 26. 

All through the early centuries of the Christian era we see 
how potent was the superforce, but the records of the lives 
of the saints are so mixed with legend that it is difficult for 
the layman to distinguish between truth and fiction. In 
the life of St. Columba mention is twice made of doors 
opening by a superforce. When with some of his monks 
this saint went to visit King Brude, in his royal residence 
near Inverness, they were refused entrance. " The gates 
were bolted, but Columba making the sign of the cross, the 



96 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

flew back, the doors stood open, and the monks entered 
the castle." (Lucy Menzies Life of St. Columba, p. 93.) 

In the life of Thomas a Becket we read of something 
similar happening when he and his monks would pass through 
a certain door that was locked. "One of the monks ran before 
to force it, for the key was lost ; suddenly the door flew open 
as if of itself." (Stanley, his. mem. of Canterbury, p. 96.) 

In the journal of the Wesley family, Rev. Samuel, father 
of John Wesley, says, " I have been thrice pushed by an 
invisible power, once against the corner of my desk in the 
study, a second time against the door of the matted chamber, 
the third time against the right side of the frame of my study 
door as I was going in " (page 247). Emily Wesley, writing 
to her brother about the disturbances at the parsonage, says, 
" I heartily rejoice at having such an opportunity of con- 
vincing myself, past doubt or scruple, of the existence of 
some things besides those we see." 

In modern times there is perhaps no stronger evidence of 
a superforce than the life of Joan of Arc, else what was it 
that enabled a poor, unlettered peasant girl to play the part 
she did in the hundred years' war? All superforce is from 
the other world. It may be used, is used, both by good and 
by bad spirits. Whether it is good we may see from the end 
attained. No one who believes the Scripture can doubt that 
in Peter's case it was an angel of light that loosened his 
chains. This light seen in the prison was of the same nature 
of that seen on the plains of Bethlehem. 

And the glory of the Lord shone round about 
them. Luke ii., 9. 

The same that blinded Paul. 

And suddenly there shined round about him a 
light from heaven. Acts ix., 3. 

Manifestations of light from the Overworld are not confined 
to the Bible days. Of St. Columba we read, "A most 
brilliant pillar wreathed with fiery tresses preceded this same 



SUPERFORCE 97 

man of God." Again, "One night when a monk burning 
with the love of God, went to church to pray, he saw 
Columba come in and along with him a golden light that came 
down from the highest heavens and filled that part of the 
church/' (Adamnan's Life of Columba III., xv.) 

Of King Oswald's bones, which were being moved and 
were left out all night, it is said, " For during that whole 
night a pillar of light, reaching from the wagon up to heaven, 
was seen by almost all the inhabitants of the province of 
Lindsey." (Bede b. iii., chap. xi. 

The nuns in the monastery of Barking received direction 
regarding a burial-place by means of light. On a sudden 
a light from heaven, like a great sheet came down upon them 
all, and struck them with so much terror that they, in con- 
sternation, left off singing. But that resplendent light, which 
seemed to exceed the sun at noonday, soon after rising from 
that place, removed to the south side of the monastery, that 
is, to the westward of the oratory, and having continued 
there some time, and covered those parts in sight of them all, 
withdrew itself up again to heaven. (Bede b. iv., chap, vi.) 
We might go on multiplying examples of superforce and fill 
many volumes, but let us meditate upon a few lines from 
Job. 

Great things doeth he, which we cannot compre- 
hend. 

Stand still and consider the wondrous works of 
God. Dost thou know when God disposed them, 
and caused the light of his cloud to shine? 

Job xxxvii., 5, 15. 



XII 
SUPERSIGNS 

Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God : ask it either 
in the depth or in the height above. Isa. vii., n. 

" The signs and wonders which broke in upon the 
indifference and awoke the belief of Jew and Gentile, 
whether they were produced by momentary suspen- 
sion of law or by its pre-ordained operation, were 
equally His work from whom all law proceeds." 

Robert Dale Owen. 



All through the ages we find men asking for a sign from 
heaven or seeing one in natural phenomena. It would seem 
as though the desire for a sign were almost universal ; that 
at times when the mind of man is in doubt, when he stands 
midway between earthly desire and heavenly aspiration, he 
yearns for something that will point the way, or more often 
for a sign that will coincide with his inclination and ease his 
conscience. 

The poet of Genesis saw the sun and moon as signs. 

And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and 
for days, and years. Gen. i., 14. 

Noah saw in the rainbow a token and a promise that meant 
no more floods. 

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for 
a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 

Gen. ix., 13. 
The sailor to-day sees in the rainbow the signs of both good 
and bad weather, depending upon when seen. The Egyptians 
used the sign of Horns' outspread wings over their doors for 
protection. Moses told the Israelites to strike their door- 
posts with blood. 

98 



SUPERSIGNS 99 

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon 
the houses where ye are. Ex. xii., 13. 

Regarding the command to eat unleavened bread, it is said : 

And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine 
hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that 
the Lord's law may be in thy mouth. Ex. xiii., 9. 

Gideon, a man upon whom the spirit of the Lord came, 
asked for a visible and tangible sign. His request was that 
dew should come upon a piece of fleece and all the earth 
about be dry. 

And it was so, for he rose up early on the morrow, 
and thrust the fleece together; and wringed the 
dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 

Jud. vi., 38. 

This phenomenal sign did not entirely satisfy Gideon; he 
wished to be sure that the Lord was on his side, so he asked 
a further sign: that the next night the fleece should be 
dry and dew be on the ground. The miracle was reversed. 
Samuel gave Saul signs (or what to-day would be called 
tests), telling him what he would find, whom he would 
meet, and predicting that Saul should prophesy. The signs 
given by the prophet Samuel to Saul were all fulfilled. 

And all those signs came to pass that day. 

I. Sam. x., 9. 

Nearly all the prophets had signs given to them, though all 
were not exterior or phenomenal signs. Ezekiel, Isaiah, 
Jeremiah, Daniel, and the minor prophets, while not exhibit- 
ing wonders of the same kind as did Moses, Joshua, Elijah, 
Elisha, or Samuel, yet often were taught by means of sym- 
bolic signs. Also they were told to distinguish between good 
and evil signs. For supersigns, like superforce, may be good 
or may be evil, depending upon the end sought. In Deuter- 
onomy we find instruction regarding signs given to the 
children of Israel. 



100 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer 
of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 

And the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof 
he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other 
gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve 
them ; 

Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that 
prophet or that dreamer of dreams ; for the Lord 
your God proveth you, to know whether ye love 
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all 
your soul. Deut. xiii., 1-3. 

Here we see that false prophets were for a purpose, that God 
might strengthen his children who resisted the temptation to 
believe in other gods or to be led by signs and wonders that 
were not right. They were taught to discriminate, to use 
their judgment regarding signs. We still need to use this 
god-given power of judgment when dealing with psychic 
signs or spirit messages. " Death procures for us higher 
powers and clearer perceptions, it opens to us a wider horizon 
and discloses to us much which we can but dimly surmise 
here below, but it does not confer on us infallibility . . . 
It is almost as unsafe for a dogmatic infallibilist, as for a 
confirmed devil-fearer, to engage in spiritual research." 
(Robert Dale Owen, The Debatable Land, p. 207.) The 
above quotation, and much more touching this important- 
caution, is given by that eminent statesman who made such an 
exhaustive study of psychism and spiritism in all its phases. 
A sign is not a permanent possession. A personal sign 
expresses a stage, a peculiar movement and quality of the 
spirit in certain steps of its development. One unsought, but 
given by the angel guide, is an honour, and shows advance- 
ment. Signs are both exterior and interior; the exterior 
sign is a concession to our imperfect condition, to our weak- 
ness, our ignorance, our doubt, or our fears. When Moses 
feared he could not do the work the Lord had directed him 



SUPERSIGNS 101 

to do, he received several signs : that of his rod turning into 
a serpent and his hand becoming leprous. 

And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, 
wherewith thou shalt do signs. Ex. iv., 17. 

Jeremiah was fearful that he could not speak the message 

given unto him. 

Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched 
my mouth, And the Lord said unto me, Behold I 
have put my words in thy mouth. Jer. i., 9. 

One of the words that the Lord put into this prophet's mouth 

was: 

Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not 
dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen 
are dismayed at them. Jer. x., 2. 

Signs may be good or bad or neutral. A good sign is one 
used for a good end. An evil sign, one that does not event- 
uate in good. A neutral sign, one that may be used either 
for good or for evil, depending upon the intent of the indi- 
vidual. All signs are not individual ; many have been given 
to congregations, to nations, to countries, to warn, to encour- 
age, to enlighten, and are good or evil according as they are 
received. When Vesuvius gave forth many and oft- repeated 
noises and tremblings, had these signs been heeded then, 
though Pompeii and Herculaneum might have been buried, 
no lives would have been lost. Nature provides a way to 
help and to save all those who heed her warnings, who read 
her signs aright. Those who are not dismayed as the heathen 
are, but believe in the loving care of the Father and stop and 
listen to nature's voice. The soul of man is provided with 
safety guards, so that if he truly seeks to know, and desires 
a sign because he prefers God's Will to his own will, he shall 
surely find it, and usually within himself. The highest and 
most important psychic signs do not as a rule deal with 
phenomena, but are interior and come to the mind of man 
when he is ready to be taught by such signs. Often they are 



102 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

symbolic, though they may be pictures of deeds or events 
>me, and the man who can interpret them will become a 
prophet. The interior sign may come from the angel guide 
to show the way to a higher level, to a better view, helping 
seer to know where he stands and what is now expected 
of him. Such signs are not only helpful, they are a mark of 
distinction and honour. Ezekiel saw many such. 

And he spread it before me: and it was written 
within and without; and there was written therein 
lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Ez. ii., 10. 
Then I looked, and, behold in the firmament that 
was above the head of the cherubims there appeared 
over them as it were a sapphire stone as the appear- 
ance of the likeness of a throne. Ez. x., I. 

Daniel was frequently taught by symbolic signs; speaking 
in general of God's signs, he says : 

He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs 
and wonders in heaven and in earth. Dan. vi., 27. 

Isaiah does not seem to have been taught much by symbolic 
signs, yet he says : 

Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath 
given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel 
from the Lord of host, which dwelleth in Mount 
Zion. Isa. viii., 18. 

Jeremiah was able to interpret his interior symbolic signs. 

Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, 
saying, Jeremiah, What seest thou? And I said, I 
see a rod of an almond tree. 

Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen, 
for I will hasten my word to perform it. 

Jer. i., 11, 12. 

And the word of the Lord came unto me the 
second time, saying, What seest thou ? And I said, 
I see a seething pot, and the face thereof is toward 
the north. 

Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an 
evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the 
land. Jer. i., 13, 1 4- 



SUPERSIGNS 103 

Though so often good, yet even an interior sign may be from 
the Evil one, permitted by God to try the spirit of the seer 
and teach him to discriminate and choose the right way by 
his own god-given free will and inner knowledge of good and 
evil. 

The Son of Man was so tempted. Led by the Spirit into 
the wilderness, the devil was permitted to show him by 
interior signs all the kingdoms of the world. Did he not 
show him a high tower and suggest that if he would cast 
himself down he would not be hurt? For what end were 
such signs? For temporal power. Also the use of super- 
force, of which he had an abundance, to show what he could 
do instead of saving it, as he did, for the help of humanity. 
Let us note what the Saviour did. He saw and read these 
signs as evil, for he knew that temporal power was not what 
he had come to obtain, nor should he do feats just to make 
the crowd marvel. So he resisted the Evil one and drove 
out from his mind these pictures, saying: 

Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written, 
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him 
only shalt thou serve. Luke iv., 8. 

The psychic of to-day needs to keep in mind, when asking 
for a sign, the example of the Son of Man and his tempta- 
tions, remembering that he was not led into error by the sight 
of all the kingdoms of the world, but put behind him any 
desire for earthly gain or glory or temporal power that he 
might fulfil his great mission. Also it is well for us to 
remember the warning given by the Master to his disciples : 

For false Christs and false prophets shall arise, 
and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it 
were possible, even the elect. Mark xiii., 22. 

When Gabriel appeared to Zacharias to fortell the birth of 
John the Baptist, the aged priest, doubting the word of the 
angel, a sign was given ; the angel said : 



104 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

And, behold thou shalt be dumb and not able to 
speak until the day that these things shall be per- 
formed, because thou believest not my words, which 
shall be fulfilled in their season. Luke i., 20. 

The Scripture relates that Zacharias recovered his speech 
only after he had obeyed the angel's command that his son 
should be called John. This John it was to whom a sign 
was given whereby he might surely know the Messiah. 

And John bare record saying, I saw the Spirit 
descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode 
upon him. 

And I knew him not; but he that sent me to 
baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon 
whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and 
remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth 
with the Holy Ghost. John i., 32, 33. 

John the Baptist was not seeking a sign ; it was sent to him 
for a purpose, that he might point out the One to those, made 
ready for the truth. Jesus speaks of the signs that will 
mark the time of the destruction of Jerusalem ; also of signs 
that will foretell the latter days of the earth. Yet certain of 
the scribes and Pharisees came to him, saying: 

Master, we would see a sign from thee. 

But he answered and said unto them, An evil and 
adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and 
there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the 
prophet Jonas. Matt, xii., 38, 39. 

At another time the Pharisees and Sadducees came tempting 
him, asking for a sign from heaven. What said Jesus then? 

O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the 
sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 

Matt, xvi., 3- 

He then repeated what he had said at an earlier time, that 
no sign should be given to that generation but the sign of the 
prophet Jonas. We clearly see that Jesus was striving to 
teach his disciples to depend upon themselves; to use the 



SUPERSIGNS 105 

marvellous signs that were within themselves, and to look 
to him ; to see in him all that was needed for their redemp- 
tion. He was prophesying regarding his resurrection, which 
was sign enough for that and for all generations to come, 
the greatest sign that had yet been given to man. Yet signs 
and wonders did not cease because the great sign of that 
generation had been fulfilled. We are told that: 

Many wonders and signs were done by the 
apostles. Acts ii., 43. 

Also Paul says : 

Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought 
among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and 
mighty deeds. II. Cor. xii., 12. 

Nor alone to prophets, apostles, and saints were signs 
shown, but to warriors and kings. We read of how Esar- 
haddon was aided in battle by Ishtai\ "The lady of on- 
slaught and battle who loves my priesthood stood at my side 
and brake their bows." ( f fastings' Die. of the Bible, vol. L, 
p. 1 39) The same goddess, Ishtar, appeared to Asshur- 
banipal in a vision, armed with quiver and a bow brandishing 
a sword, and promised him victory against his foes. 

Judas Maccabeus, whose watchword was "The help of 
God," had a sign from heaven given him in a vision. It was 
that Jeremias the prophet gave him a sword of gold, and 
said: 

Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with the 
which thou shalt wound the adversaries. 

II. Book of Judas Mac, xv., 15. 

Constantine, while fighting the barbarians, saw a cross 
shining in the sky with the words, "In hoc signo vinces" on 
it. He prepared a banner like this one and took it into 
battle. Defeating the foe, he returned to Rome, there found 
the meaning of the cross, and embraced Christianity. 

Oswald of Northumbria, preparing for battle, having 
pitched his tent near Hexhan, was one night visited by St. 



106 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Columba. "Gleaming with angelic beauty, his lofty figure 
touching the clouds with the crown of his head." (Menzies' 
Life of St. Columba, p. 97-) 

Alfred the Great was visited by St. Cuthbert, who not 
only prophesied that Alfred would soon again be seated on 
his throne, but gave him a sign or test that what he foretold 
would come to pass. "Your fishers shall this day bring 
home a great quantity of large fish in baskets, which shall be 
so much more extraordinary because the river at this time 
passed is icebound. . . . Conciliate God your helper and 
meet his messenger with suitable devotion." (Malmesbury's 
Eng. chron., chap, iv.) 

As we read the accounts of phenomenal signs given to 
kings and warriors, we are reminded of Elisha. When his 
servant reported that an host encompassed the city both with 
horses and chariots, Elisha prayed to God that the young 
man might be permitted to see the host of heaven. 

And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man : 
and he saw ; and behold, the mountain was full of 
horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 

II. Kings vi., 17. 

In the second book of Maccabees (which is canonical in the 
Roman Catholic Bible) we hear of even a more thrilling 
supersign than that seen by Elisha. 

About the same time Antiochous prepared his 
second voyage into Egypt, and then it happened 
that through all the city, for the space of almost 
forty days, there were seen horsemen running in the 
air, in cloth of gold and armed with lances, like a 
band of soldiers and troops of horsemen in array, 
encountering and running one against another, with 
shaking of shields, and multitude of spikes, and 
drawing of swords, and casting of darts, and glitter- 
ing of golden ornaments, and harness of all sorts. 
Wherefore every man prayed that that apparition 
might turn to good. 

(II. Book of Maccabees, chap, v., 1-4.) 



SUPERSIGNS 107 

There are a number of accounts of supersigns seen at the 
battle of Antioch. "At a most critical moment, when the 
Turks were on both flanks, there was seen to issue forth from 
the heart of the mountain a counter host, mounted on white 
horses and carrying white banners. At last both parties 
became sensible that it was a manifestation from heaven, and 
recognized in the leaders of the celestial armies the holy 
martyrs, St. George, St. Demetrius, and St. Mercury." 
rdericus Vitalis His. of Eng. and Normandy, vol. iii., 
pp. 139, 140.) 

Another historian, speaking of these heavenly helpers at 
Antioch, says, "Nor is it to be denied that the martyrs did 
assist the Christians as the angels formerly did the Maccabees 
fighting for the selfsame cause." (Malmesbury, page 382.) 

During the siege of Orleans, when the chances were seem- 
ingly against the French, we are told that Jeanne d'Arc 
raised her banner and urged her comrades on. "Roused to 
madness by her example, the French renewed the conflict, 
some of them shouting that they could see St. Michael in the 
sky beckoning them on, others that they saw the white dove 
of the Holy Spirit alight on the maid's standard." 

Not to multiply examples of this frequent occurrence of 
aid in battles by the hosts of heaven, which has sometimes 
been cast contemptuously aside as myth, or superstition of 
the dark ages, we have in the great World War the recur- 
rence of the same phenomena attested by a number of indi- 
viduals on both sides. It is of special interest that the signs 
in the heavens at Mons were not seen by kings or saints, but 

in most instances by private soldiers. Lance-Corporal 

told his nurse of seeing three figures in the sky. A private 
of the first Cheshire Regt., speaking of the vision of angels 
at Mons, called it " a flash," but said, " It was one quite 
sufficient to turn the German cavalry." A German lieut. 
blamed their defeat at Mons to " Witchcraft of the English," 
saying, " There was nothing a t a ll, only our horses swerved 



108 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

round and fled and we could do nothing." (Literary Digest, 
Sept. 25, 1915.) Referring to these visions, said to have 
occurred at Mons, H. B. Simpson says, " Among the happy 
results of a war that at present it is difficult to think of with 
any feeling but abhorrence, is it not possible that we may 
find emerging a greater freedom of thought which will allow 
the writings of the New Testament to recapture an influence 
over the minds of ordinary Englishmen, which has been 
denied them for a generation past by the doctrinaire men- 
tality of the Teuton?" (Nineteenth Century, Aug. 1915.) 
In a sketch called " Phantom armies seen in France," there 
is a most original explanation of " The visions in the sky 
which enabled a thousand English soldiers to vanquish ten 
thousand Germans." (North American Review, Aug. 1915.) 

But signs and wonders are not alone of the past, many 
are to come in the future if we but believe the prophesies of 
the New Testament. 

In mediaeval and in modern times there has been a sign 
given, in a few extreme cases, that has baffled both physical 
and mental science; this is the stigmata which St. Francis 
of Assisi received after fasting forty days and praying for 
these marks in his flesh. There are two women who also had 
this sign given them, St. Catharine of Sienna and Ann- 
Catherine Emmerich. Much has been written to prove that 
the stigmata come through auto-suggestion ; but this theory, 
far from being established, has signally failed. 

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. 

Isa. vii., 14. 
And I saw another sign in heaven. Rev. xv., 1. 



XIII 
SUPERMEN 

And Jacob was left alone ; and there wrestled a 
man with him until breaking of the day. 

Gen. xxxii., 24. 

And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a 
man speaketh unto his friend. Ex. xxxiii., 11. 

No man hath seen God at any time. John i., 18. 



That all angels may not have been men or women in this 
life we surmise from the words of Jesus. Speaking of 
children he says : 

Their angels do always behold the face of my 
Father which is in heaven. Matt, xviii., 10. 

That some angels have certainly been men and lived on 

earth, we learn from the revelation of St. John where he, 

being shown a vision of the Overwork!, and taught many 

marvellous things, felt that the angel who had guided him 

through all these deep mysteries deserved nothing less than 

worship. 

And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he 
said unto me, See thou do it not ; I am thy fellow- 
servant and of the brethren that had the testimony 
of Jesus. Worship God. Rev. xix., 10. 

Yet, despite this declaration of the angel that he was a 
fellow-servant and one of the brethren, later, when John was 
shown a vision of the Holy city, the new Jerusalem, and was 
told to write of what he saw and heard, he was again so 
overcome that, forgetting the admonition of the angel, he 
once more fain would worship. 

109 



110 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

And when 1 had heard and seen I fell down to 
worship he fore the feet of the angel which shewed 
me these things. 

Then said he unto me, See thou do it not, for I 
am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren the 
prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of 
this book ; Worship God. Rev. xxii., 8, 9. 

This angel was one of the seven that held the seven vials 
(Rev. xxi., 9). And what the angel says is even fuller than 
that spoken by the first angel, for not only is it stated that 
he is a fellow-servant, but he makes John understand that he 
was one of the prophets who had kept the sayings of the 
Bible, who had been faithful to the word of God. That 
John was made to realise that the angel and the redeemed 
man are one is further shown, where it is said : 

And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred 
and forty and four cubits, according to the measure 
of a man, that is of the angel. Rev. xxi., 17. 

This measure was not that of any or every man, but of that 
man who had attained to the angel state. That men and 
angels were interchangeable terms we frequently see in the 
Old Testament. It is recorded that Abraham entertained 
" three angels." The word angel is not used throughout the 
entire narrative. 

And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, 
three men stood by him ; and when he saw them, he 
ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed 
himself towards the ground. Gen. xviii., 2. 

That Abraham ran and bowed himself would not necessarily 
mean that the men were angels, but that he saw in them 
something of the superman we find from the fact, not alone, 
that he addressed one of them as Lord (a term often used in 
the Old Testament by those addressing an angel), but that 
he asked that the cities of the plain might not be destroyed 
in a way to show that he believed in their power to save. 
Later, when it is said that the men went towards Sodom, 



SUPERMEN 111 

Abaham still speaks with one, that he denominates as Lord. 
When the men were come to the gate where Lot sat they are 
called two angels (Gen. xix., i.) Lot addresses them as 
" My Lord," and bows himself with his face to the ground. 
These angels who are now once more called men, use force 
and perform miracles, and advise Lot how to save himself 
and his family. (Gen. xix., 10-12.) In this same account 
these personages are again called angels. 

And when the morning arose, then the angels 
hastened Lot saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy 
two daughters which are here, lest thou be con- 
sumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he 
lingered, the mpn laid hold upon his hand. 

Gen. xix., 15, 16. 

Here we see supermen twice called men and twice called 
angels in a short narrative. After they had helped Lot to 
escape from Sodom, he addresses one as my Lord. (Gen. 
xix., 18.) 

Jacob seems to have inherited much of the psychic nature 
of his ancestors. In all his experiences of a psychic nature, 
which were many and varied, the most mysterious is that of 
his wrestling all night with a man who refused to give his 
name, but who blessed him, and of whom Jacob declares : 

I have seen God face to face, and my life is pre- 
served. Gen. xxxii., 30. 

It is quite possible that Jacob thought this wonderful angel 
with whom he had wrestled all night was God, though it is 
not probable, for at first this superman appeared as a man. 
We are taught in the New Testament that 

No man hath seen God at any time. John i., 18. 
Further the Master says : 

And the Father himself which hath sent me, hath 
borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice 
at any time, nor seen his shape. John v., 37. 



112 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

There are many places in the Bible where God's angel is 
mentioned as appearing to and talking with Moses. Usually 
this superman is spoken of as Lord, though the first appear- 
ance is thus recorded : 

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in 
a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Ex. vii., 2. 

On one occasion, when Moses was in the tabernacle, it is said : 

And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a 
man speaketh unto his friend. Ex. xxxiii., 11. 

Remembering that the evangelist, and also Jesus, said that 
God had never been seen by man, we must conclude that the 
one talking to Moses " face to face " as a man was his angel 
guide or, at best, his guardian angel. An attentive study of 
the Scripture reveals to us the chain of influences and of 
communication reaching from the soul of every child of God 
to his Father in heaven. 

The Soul of Man. 
The Superman Guide. 
The Angel Guide. 
The Archangel. 
The Word. 
The Unspoken. 

That it was not unusual for an angel to appear as a man we 
learn further from Joshua's experience. 

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, 
that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold 
there stood a man over against him with his sword 
drawn in his hand ; and Joshua went unto him and 
saiduntohim,Artthouforus,or for our adversaries ? 

And he said. Nay; but as Captain of the host of 
the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his 
face to the earth, and did worship and said unto 
him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? 

Jos. v., 13, 14. 

Joshua had seen this angel as a man with a sword in his hand, 
and had not even known whether he was a friend or an enemy 



SUPERMEN 113 

until he inquired, so it is not possible that he mistook him 
for God, though he addressed him as my Lord. The angel 
who was sent to foretell the birth of Samson appeared not 
only to Manoah, but first to his wife, as a man. 

Then the woman came and told her husband, 
saying, A man of God came unto me, and his coun- 
tenance was like the countenance of an angel of 
God. Jud. xiii., 6. 

After hearing this, Manoah prays that the man of God may 
come again and teach him. God hearkened to the prayer 
of Manoah, so the angel came the second time to the woman, 
and she ran and told her husband and showed him where the 
angel might be seen. 

And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and 
came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the 
man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, 
I am. Jud. xiii., n. 

Now follows a long conversation, during which it is said : 

For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of 
the Lord. Jud. xiii., 16. 

Yet later, after the mysterious disappearance of the man, 
who is spoken of as an angel of the Lord, 

Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, 
because we have seen God. Jud. xiii., 22. 

But the woman quieted her husband's fears. She felt sure 
that if the Lord had intended to kill, he would not have 
shown such favour and told them such good news. Her 
faith was rewarded, for she became the mother of Samson. 
When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were bound and 
cast into the midst of a fiery furnace, heated seven times 
more than was wont to be heated, where the flame was so hot 
that the men who threw them in lost their lives, we see why 
Nebuchadnezzar was so astonished to behold the three young 
men unhurt ; when he looked into the furnace he said : 



114 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Lo, 1 sec four men loose walking in the midst of 
the tire; and they have no hurt: and the form of 
the fourth is like the Son of God. Dan. iii., 25. 

Now the king bids the youths to come forth. 

And the princes, governors, and captains, and the 
king's councillors, being gathered together, saw 
these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power. 

Dan. iii., 27. 

We notice especially that while the king gave God the credit 
for this miracle, he saw God's angel, in the form of a man, 
walking with the other three men in the fire. Daniel many 
times talked with angels, both in his waking and his sleeping 
hours was he blessed with visions. Once he describes, at 
some length, his heavenly visitor : 

Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and 
behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins 
were girded with fine gold of Uphaz; 

His body also was like the beryl and his face as 
the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps 
of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to 
polished brass, and the voice of his words like the 
voice of a multitude. Dan. x., 5, 6. 

If we read the entire tenth chapter of the book of Daniel 
carefully we shall see that at this time Daniel had two visitors 
from the etheric realm. One he describes as a man clothed 
in linen, and one he addresses as Lord. The one that he 
calls Lord we feel is very high and great, from Daniel's 
trembling and feeling faint and his inability to talk, for he 
says he became dumb, and then — 

One like the similitude of the sons of men touched 
my lips; then I opened my mouth and spake. 

Dan. x., 16. 

Yet soon again he felt his strength going, and here he says : 

Then there came again and touched me one like 
the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. 

Dan. x., 18. 



SUPERMEN 115 

Daniel now asks that the higher spirit may again speak. 
That both these angelic visitors appeared to Daniel as men, 
and that he recognizes them as supermen, we feel assured 
from the conversation held with them. 

Zechariah is another seer who often talked with angels, 
and also heard them talking to each other. He speaks of 
the one who comes nearest to him as a man and again as an 
angel. 

And the angel that talked with me said unto me, 
I will shew thee what these be. 

And the man that stood among the myrtle trees 
answered and said, These are they whom the Lord 
hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. 

And they answered the angel of the Lord that 
stood among the myrtle trees. Zee. i., 9-1 1. 

In the next chapter this prophet speaks of the messenger of 
the Lord as a man, and then again as an angel. 

I lifted up mine eyes again and looked, and 
behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. 

The angel that talked with me went forth and 
another angel went out to meet him. Zee. ii., 1, 3. 
Not only does Zechariah use the terms man and angel inter- 
changeably, but we find him addressing the heavenly visitor 
as Lord. 

Then I answered and said unto the angel that 
talked with me, What are these, my Lord? 

Zee. vi., 4. 
An attentive study of the Old Testament shows us that very 
often angels appear as men, sometimes they were not recog- 
nized as other than men ; yet when known to be angels were 
frequently addressed as Lord, a term of respect not meaning 
that the angel was mistaken for God. 

When Tobit was sending his son Tobias on a long and 
hazardous journey, he told him to seek a man to go with him 
to whom he could give wages. In the Scriptural account we 
read: 



116 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Therefore when he went to seek a man he found 
Raphael that was an angel. But he knew him not. 

Tobit v., 3- 

When Tobias told his father that he had found a man, Tobit 
bade his son to bring the stranger to him, that he might 
decide whether he was a trusty man. The angel coming in, 
Tobit inquired of him concerning his family and his tribe. 
The angel said : 

Dost thou seek a tribe or family or an hired man 
to go with thy son ? Tobit v., 9. 

Tobit, calling the angel brother, asks his name and his 
family, to which the angel replies : 

I am Azarias, the son of Ananias the great, and 
of thy brethren. Tobit v., 11. 

Satisfied as to his family, Tobit now bargains as to the wages. 
Although the angel Raphael showed himself possessed of 
more than mortal wisdom during that journey with Tobias, 
it does not appear that the young man thought of him as 
other than a hired man. That Tobias appreciated Raphael's 
services is seen from the fact that when his father bade him 
give the man his wages, Tobias says : 

father, it is no harm to me to give him half of 
those things which I have brought ; for he brought 
me again to thee in safety and made whole my wife, 
and brought me money, and likewise healed me. 

Tobit xii., 1, 2. 

Tobit agreed to this, and called the angel, who, instead of 
taking the goods that both father and son thought his due, 
delivered unto them a most beautiful lesson regarding the 
honour and praise belonging to God, and instructed them in 
things relating to life, unfolding the fact that he had heard 
their prayers, and noted their deeds, ending with these words : 

1 am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which 
present the prayers of the saints, and which go in 
and out before the glory of the Holy One. 

Tobit xii., 9. 



SUPERMEN 117 

Hearing this declaration, Tobit and Tobias fell on their faces, 
and were afraid. The angel bids them rise, and not fear, but 
tells them to praise God, for it was by the will of God that he 
came. He ends his visit with the following words: 

All these days I did appear unto you ; but I did 
neither eat nor drink, but ye did see a vision. Now 
therefore give God thanks ; for I go up to Him that 
sent me, but write all these things which are done in 
a book. And when they arose, they saw him no 
more. Then they confessed the great and wonderful 
works of God, and how the angel of the Lord had 
appeared unto them. Tobit xii., 10, II. 

" This beautiful story from the Apocryphal writings formed 
a part of the Old Testament Canon accepted by the early 
church. " (A. H. Sayce.) Here we see that one of the 
highest angels appeared as a man, and also told who he had 
been in earth-life. When he gave the name Azarias, we 
cannot think that Raphael would take a name that did not 
belong to him; also he says " Son of Ananias," and speaks 
of having been related to them, " Of thy brethren. " We are 
reminded of the archangel who talked with St. John, who 
used this same expression. Both of these angels refused 
worship, which belongs only to God. 

In early English history it is related that King Edwin was 
converted to the Christian religion by means of a vision, 
wherein a man appeared and made promises, then, " having 
uttered these words, he is said to have immediately vanished, 
that the king might understand it was not a man, but a spirit, 
that had appeared to him." Coming a second time this 
heavenly visitor is spoken of as " The man of God." When 
the king was ready to fall down at his feet and worship, the 
messenger raised him up and said, " Behold, by the help of 
God, you have escaped the hands of the enemies whom you 
feared. Behold, you have of his gift obtained the kingdom 
which you desired." (Bede Eccl. His. b. ii., chap. 12.) 



118 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

hough in the Bible and in profane history angels are 
usually spoken of as men and not as women, yet in the term 
supermen we should include both sexes. It is not to be 
supposed that only men return as angels to help their weaker 
brothers. Since the Christian era we frequently hear of the 
appearances of women. In the seventh century in England, 
at the monastery at Barking, there was a nun named Tortgith 
who was gifted with sight and prophecy. Although in her 
last illness, dumb for some time, she was one day heard 
talking to some one. " She was on a sudden relieved by a 
spiritual vision, opened her mouth and eyes, and, looking to 
heaven, began thus to direct her discourse to the Vision 
which she saw. " Your coming is very acceptable to me, and 
you are welcome." When asked by her companions to whom 
she was speaking, she said, " With my most dear mother, 
Ethelberga," by which the nuns understood that she was 
come to acquaint Tortgith that the time of her departure was 
at hand. (Ethelberga, the mother superior of Barking, had 
left her mortal body three years before this vision occurred.) 
In the nineteenth century, at Lourdes, in France, a peasant 
girl was repeatedly visited by an apparition, which she 
declared to be the most beautiful lady she had ever seen. 
This beautiful lady was later declared by the Church to be 
an appearance of the Blessed Virgin. This is a long step 
from the thought that St. Dunstan's " beautiful lady " was 
the devil ! 

And entering into the sepulchre they saw a young 
man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white 
garment: and they were affrighted. Mark xvi., 5. 

And at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and 
behold a man stood before me in bright clothing. 

Acts x., 30. 

According to the measure of a man, that is of the 
angel. Rev. xxi., 17. 



XIV 
MINISTERING ANGELS 

Bless ye the Lord, all ye his host : ye ministers of 
his, that do his pleasure. Ps. ciii., 21. 

" Therefore for spirits, I am so far from denying 
.their existence that I could easily believe that not 
only whole countries but particular persons have 
their tutelary and guardian angels. It is not a new 
opinion of the Church of Rome but an old one of 
Pythagoras and Plato. " Sir Thos. Browne. 

" The dignity of a soul is so great that each has a 
guardian angel from its birth." St. Jerome. 



The psalmist at some length, and in beautiful language, 
describes God's care of his own: their safety from pestilence 
and in battle, and shows his knowledge of the way the Lord 
protects the righteous. 

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to 
keep thee in all thy ways. Ps. xci., II. 

Having heard how the Lord God had in times past sent his 
holy angels to succour those who called on him, David 
believed that the strong arm of the Almighty would still send 
help to the faithful. This shepherd poet of Israel further 
says of God : 

Who maketh his angels spirit, his ministers a 
flaming fire. Ps. civ., 4. 

David thought of God as a sovereign Lord having hosts of 
angels willing and ready to obey his behests, who became 
ministering spirits to mankind. Very many instances are 
recorded, in the Scripture, where angels come to minister. 
It is noticeable that the first account of an angel sent to 

119 



120 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

comfort and to assuage sorrow was of one sent to a woman. 

ir had tied into the wilderness, because of the hardness 
of Sarah ; an angel appears and tells her that she is to bear 
a child to Abrani, and bids her return to Sarah. (Gen. 
xvi.. 1-7.) Some years later, when jealousy of Hagar's son 
again causes Sarah to show hardness, the bondswoman and 
her child wander in the wilderness and are like to die of 
thirst, when an angel shows Hagar a well of water, and tells 
her that God will make of the lad a great nation. (Gen. xxi., 
14-21.) 

When Abram would have a wife for his only son Isaac 
brought from the East country, he tells his servant, who is 
going on this errand, that God will send his angel before him, 
so that he will prosper. We are further told that this servant 
felt the leading of the angel, and accomplished his mission. 
Angels play quite a part throughout the life of Jacob. 
When he is blessing the sons of Joseph, in Egypt, he acknowl- 
edges the ministry of his guardian thus : 

The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless 

the lads. Gen. xlviii., 16. 

In the history of Moses' life we see the great power and 
might of his angel guide. While Moses hesi f ated, on account 
of his lack of eloquence, to address Pharaoh, the angel said: 
Xow therefore go, and I will be with thy mou h, 

and reach thee what thou shalt saw Ex. iv.. 12. 

interesting to compare this with that Jesus said to his 
disciples about their speech : 

For it shall be given you in that same hour what 
shall speak. Matt, x., 19. 

To return to Moses. All through the forty years of wander- 
ing in the wilderness, the Israelites were guarded by angels, 
fed by angels, taught and tenderly cared for by God's 
ministering spirits. Toward the end of their journey, when 
preparing to meet the enemy, the Lord says to Moses : 
Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee 
in the way, and to bring thee into the place which 
I have prepared. Ex. xxiii., 20. 



MINISTERING ANGELS 121 

And later on, even after Moses had broken the tables of 
stone, we read : 

Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place 
of which I have spoken unto thee; behold mine 
Angel shall go before thee. Ex. xxxii., 34. 

This account shows us that the ministry of spirits is not 
abated, nor withdrawn when mortals fail or fall. 

When Isaiah speaks of the afflictions of the children of 
Israel, he says : 

And the angel of his presence saved them. 

Isa. lxiii., 9. 

Indeed, the ministry of angels seems to include a part in all 
that happens to man. They lead, they plead, they comfort. 

The Lord before whom I walk will send his angel 

with thee, and prosper thy way. Gen. xxiv., 40. 

As the Lord liveth his angel hath been my keeper. 

Judith xiii., 20. 

Simeon was led by the spirit to come into the temple at 
the time that the Virgin offered her gift for purification. 
Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, 
and after his long fast and conquest of evil, 

Behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 

Matt, iv., 11. 

Again, on the night in which he was betrayed, while he 
prayed to the Father to remove the cup of his agony, if it 
were the Father's will, we read : 

And there appeared an angel unto him from 
heaven, strengthening him. Luke xxii., 43. 

That Jesus had perfect faith in the ministry of angels we see 

from his words at the time of the betrayal : 

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my 
Father, and he shall presently give me more than 
twelve legions of angels? Matt, xxvi., 53. 

This assistance Jesus did not ask, for he had already resigned 

himself to God's will. That a great faith in the help of God's 



122 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

ministering spirits was in Paul we see at the time of his 
threatened shipwreck, where he comforts his companions, 
telling them there should be no loss of life. His reason was 

For there stood by me this night the angel of God, 
whose I am, and whom I serve. 

Saying, Fear not, Paul. Acts xxvii., 23, 29. 

These words show us plainly that Paul was conscious of his 
guardian angel. Ministering spirits do not fail to minister, 
nor guardian angels cease to guard, as the world grows older. 
Of St. Columba we read, " He had a guardian angel who 
often appeared to him and was even seen with him by those 
of supernatural vision. " Just before he set sail to do his great 
work in Scotland, he went to bid farewell to his old teacher, 
Finn, who, walking beside the monastery, saw Columba 
approaching, and seeing an angel walking with him, said to 
the brethren, " Behold, look now to Columba as he draweth 
near; he hath been deemed worthy of having an angelic 
inhabitant of heaven to be his companion on his wanderings. " 

Many of the saints had been conscious of guiding spirits. 
There is a rather remarkable case, not that of a saint, related 
by the Venerable Bede of a Northumbrian who had a vision 
of his guardian, who said, " He that led me had a shining 
countenance and a bright garment. . . . My guide who 
went before me answered to my thought." (Bede Eccl. 
His., p. 254. 

That not only individuals, but nations, communities and 
countries, all have angel guides, who are ever watching and 
caring for the good of their flocks, we see by reference to 
the Scripture. Daniel's guide speaks to him thus : 

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the 
great Prince which standeth for the children of thy 
people. Dan. xii., 1. 

It is usually admitted, by Bible authorities, that the " man " 
who called Paul to Macedon was the guardian of that country. 



MINISTERING ANGELS 123 

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; 
there stood a man of Macedonia ; and prayed him, 
saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 

Acts xvi., 9. 

In that book of the Bible, which is full of the ministry of 
angels, we see that each Church had its tutelary spirit. 

The seven stars are the angels of the seven 
churches. Rev. 1., 20. 

Not only have churches guardians, but the law itself was 
given by angels. In Stephen's inspired apology, made just 
before he was stoned, he speaks of the persecutions of the 
prophets : 

Who have received the law by the disposition of 
angels. Acts vii., 53. 

Not only persons and nations and churches have guardians, 
but the earth itself has angels specially appointed to care for 
it. 

And after these things I saw four angels standing 
on the four corners of the earth, holding the four 
winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow 
on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 

Rev. vii., 1. 

Not John alone was taught respecting the angels that cared 
for the earth ; the prophet Zechariah, in one of his visions, 
while talking to his guardian angel, sees other angels, and 
says, What are these, my Lord ? 

And the angel answered and said unto me, These 
are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth 
from standing before the Lord of all the earth. 

Zee. vi., 5. 

We frequently speak of the spirit of a place, yet do not often 
think of what we say, but if the earth is His footstool, as 
Jesus has said (Matt, v., 35), or as Stephen said, 

Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples 
made with hands ; as saith the prophet, 



124 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. 

Acts vii., 48, 49. 

Isaiah hears the Lord saying: 

I have made the earth and created man upon it ; 
I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, 
and (7// their host have I commanded. Isa. xlv., 12. 

Is it not likely, that the host of heaven, who are at His com- 
mand, care for that tabernacle not made with hands? We 
remember that when Moses' angel guide talked with him, in 
the land of Midian, he said: 

Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place 
whereon thou standest is holy ground. Ex. iii., 5. 

Joshua also was told by his angel guide that the earth was 
holy. When he was come near to Jericho we read : 

And the captain of the Lord's host said unto 
Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the 
place whereon thou standest is holy. Jos. v., 15. 

This follows the teaching of the psalmist: 

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. 

Ps. xxiv., 1. 

The whole earth is full of his glory. Isa. vi., 3. 
If we believe that the earth is the Lord's and that it is full 
of his glory, then we shall not limit the manifestation of his 
power to Egypt and Palestine, but shall see that in all lands, 
in all ages, God's messengers come to succour those 
who call upon Him, and are seen by man who with eyes of 
faith looks to heaven for help. The gods and goddesses of 
the ancient Greeks were what angels were to the men of 
Israel. The devi-rishi to the seer of India is both an angel 
and a saint. 

Children reared in Christian homes are taught that God is 
ever ready to send forth ministering spirits to all who call 
upon him for aid, and are made to feel as David felt, that : 

The angel of the Lord encampeth round them 
that fear him, and delivereth them. Ps. xxxiv., 7. 



MINISTERING ANGELS 125 

To show that some of those in the orthodox church of to-day 
have vision wide enough to see that redeemed man will help 
his angel brothers in their ministry, we quote the following : 
"I believe that those whose hearts have been educated in a 
wide-reaching sympathy and passionate eagerness to exercise 
their inheritance of Eternal beneficence in behalf of their 
toiling woe-begotten brothers and sisters in their tribulation, 
will enter at once, when they quit this world, into the fulness 
of angelic ministration." (Letters from a Mystic of the 
Present Day, Rowland W Corbet, M.A., Rector of Stoke- 
on-Terne, third ed., p. 186.) 



XV 

SPIRITUAL INFLUX 

But there is a spirit in man ; and the inspiration 
of the Almighty giveth them understanding. 

Job xxxii., 8. 

For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your 
father which speaketh in you. Matt, x., 20. 

The Lord came in upon my soul. Bunyan. 



In all nature's forces there is an ebb and a flow. Heat, 
light, sound, electricity, all come in waves. This rhythmic 
coming seems to be the law of progress; night and day, 
winter and summer, a little while in the earth ; then a coming 
forth toward the light, a longer time in the earth; then a 
bursting toward the sky ; for the spirit that worketh in the 
plant also orders the earth itself, 

Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain 
and hill shall be made low, Isa. xl., 4. 

sung by the prophet long ago, is still the law of progress. 
As in the outward and visible, so also in the inward and 
invisible forces, there is a rhythm. Man feels this law in all 
his mental and spiritual states. As the mass partakes of the 
kind of the molecule, so that which appears in the life of the 
individual will also be seen in the life of the race. All 
through the ages there have been times of great intellectual 
life and times of seeming death, when in the dark was gestat- 
ing the genius that would enlighten the world when the next 
upward wave should arise. So in the spiritual we note eras 
of influx, when many prophets, poets, and artists come forth 
and shine as stars ; or one genius is seen who is such a sun 
of light that the lesser lights are hidden. 

126 



SPIRITUAL INFLUX 127 

In Israel, Moses had so much of the influx and was so 
great a light that others near him are forgotten. Yet what 
was it but this same spirit that inspired Miriam to sing and 
play and dance after the crossing of the Red Sea? When 
Moses was so spirit-filled that his face shone and he asked 
the people for gifts and work for the tabernacle, many men 
and women felt the divine influx. 

And they came, every one whose heart stirred 
him up, and every one whom the spirit made willing. 

Ex. xxxv., 21. 

These artists and artisans were spirit-filled who lent their 
talents to the work of beautifying the ark of the Lord, and 
making robes for the priests. Here we see that inspiration 
may be the gift of the humble, of those who labour with their 
hands, as well as of the leaders and teachers. 

And all the women that were wise-hearted did 
spin with their hands. . . . 

And all the women whose hearts stirred them up 
in wisdom spun goat's hair. Ex. xxxv., 25, 26. 

Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to 
work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of 
the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer. 

Ex. xxxv., 35. 

The stirring of the spirit was first felt in the heart. It came 
to women as well as to men. A consciousness that the spirit 
of God is within the heart will bring forth much fruit. The 
sweet psalmist of Israel said : 

The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word 
was in my tongue. II. Sam. xxiii., 2. 

Also he says: 

Commune with your own heart upon your bed, 
and be still. Ps. iv., 4. 

Ezekiel felt the spiritual influx. 

And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said 
unto me, Speak. Ez. xi., 5. 



1 28 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Speaking to this prophet, of the Israelites, the Lord says: 
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a 
now spirit within you. Ez. xi., 19. 

Isaiah was deeply conscious of his inspiration. 

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, 
in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my spirit 
upon him. Isa. xlii., 1. 

Truly the spirit was upon Isaiah; he felt God in all things. 

I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is 
no God beside me. . . . 

I form the light, and create darkness: I make 
peace, and create evil : I the Lord do all these 
things. Isa. xlv., 5, 7. 

It is difficult for the finite mind of man to understand how the 
light can make dark or how the Good can create evil. The 
finite never can comprehend the infinite, yet if we believe 
in one God and one substance all things must exist by His 
will, and operate through His pleasure. Why there is evil in 
the heart of man we do not know. Why evil spirits are 
permitted to come to man we do not understand. Saul is 
said to have had an evil spirit sent from God. 

But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, 
and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him 

And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from 
God was upon Saul — I. Sam. xvi., 14, 23. 

There must be a good reason why God permits the things 
which we call evil to be, and they must be for some good. 

For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just 
shall walk in them : but the transgressors shall fall 
therein. Hosea xiv., 9. 

There are two ways of doctrine and power, the 
one of light, the other of darkness. 

Ep. of Barnabas iv., 3. 

That temptation is a good we learn from experience, for each 
time a temptation is overcome, fresh strength and courage 



SPIRITUAL INFLUX 129 

arise for the battle that is raging between right and wrong. 
Whether we shall receive the evil, or eschew evil and seek 
good, remains with the individual to choose. The children 
of God are free to choose, and it would seem, can only make 
a wise choice by knowing both good and evil. Spirit is inside 
and outside of us, pressing on all sides, anxious for entrance. 
Like attracts like; if our thoughts are dark, naturally we 
attract the shady spirits ; if our souls are upturned, seeking 
light, we shall surely find it. 

After the day of the prophets, there seems to be a down- 
ward wave of spirit force in Israel; yet the prophet Joel, 
seeing beyond his day, knew that a time of greater spiritual 
influx was to come, a time when every one would bask in 
light and feel the power of the indwelling and the surround- 
ing spirit of God. 

And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will 
pour out my spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons 
and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men 
shall dream dreams, your young men shall see 
visions. 

And also upon the servants and upon the hand- 
maids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 

Joel ii., 28, 29. 

Malachi realized that if the people would but serve God as 
they should, a great spiritual influx would be theirs. 

Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, 
if I will not open you the windows of heaven and 
pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room 
enough to receive it. Mai. hi., 10. 

This prophecy was certainly fulfilled when the Messiah came, 
that greatest of blessings sent by the Father, whose coming 
brought the highest wave of spiritual power the world has 
ever felt. To those who were ready to receive, the spirit 
When Mary of Nazareth went to visit her cousin Elisabeth, 
and saluted her, Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, 
spake; and through them, spoke to the world. 



130 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

And she spake out with a loud voice and said, 
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the 
fruit of thy womb. Luke i., 42. 

This aged dame continued to prophesy, and Mary, being 
greatly stirred by her kind reception, said : 

My soul doth magnify the Lord, 
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my saviour. 

Luke i., 46, 47. 

Can we doubt that all of this very beautiful hymn, which is 
still sung in our houses of worship, was inspired? When 
Elisabeth was delivered of a son, Zacharias, who had been 
dumb since the angel's visit of annunciation, had no sooner 
signified that the child's name be John than his tongue was 
loosed. 

And Zacharias was rilled with the Holy Ghost 
and prophesied saying, 

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel ; for he hath 
visited and redeemed his people; 

And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us 
in the house of his servant David ; 

As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, 
which have been since the world began. 

Luke L, 67-70. 

This benedictus is too familiar to all Christians to need re- 
peating in full. It is well to note that Zacharias, a priest of 
the established church, felt that God had spoken through the 
mouth of his prophets and that holy prophets had been since 
the world began. 

When the Blessed Virgin took the babe Jesus to the temple 
to present him to the Lord, it is said of the aged Simeon that : 

The Holy Ghost was upon him; And it was 
revealed unto him, by the Holy Ghost, that he 
should not see death before he had seen the Lord's 
Christ. 

And he came by the spirit into the temple. 

Luke ii., 26, 27. 



SPIRITUAL INFLUX 131 

Taking the child in his arms, Simeon gave forth in prophetic 
language a beautiful hymn : 

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in 
peace, according to thy word: 

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all 
people ; 

A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of 
thy people Israel. Luke ii., 29-32. 

Now was Incarnate that Son of God of whom it is written : 

God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 

John iii., 34- 

And what saith Jesus of the spirit which was his without 
measure : 

But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom 
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you 
all things and bring all things to your remembrance, 
whatsoever I have said unto you. John xiv., 26. 

That the full message of God to man was not given by the 
Saviour, while he was here, we learn from his own words : 

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye 
cannot bear them now. 

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak 
of himself but whatsoever he shall hear ; that shall 
he speak : and he shall shew you things to come. 

John xvi., 12, 13. 

The apostles, believing that they would receive the baptism 
of the spirit, promised by the Lord, assembled themselves 
and prayed and waited. 

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, 
they were all with one accord in one place. . . . 

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and 
began to speak with other tongues, as the spirit gave 
them utterance. Acts ii., 1, 4. 



132 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Peter remembered and repeated the prophecy of Joel, that 
God would pour out his spirit upon all flesh. It seemed to 
the apostles that this prophecy was being fulfilled in their 
day. 

And the multitude of them that believed were of 
one heart and of one soul. Acts iv., 32. 

Not alone to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, came this influx 
of spirit power. Peter, telling of his visit to the house of 
Cornelius, says: 

And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on 
them as on us at the beginning. Acts xi., 15. 

Of Barnabas, who was elected an apostle, it is said: 

For he was a good man, and full of the Holy 
Ghost and of faith: and much people was added 
unto the Lord. Acts xi., 24. 

In the epistle of Barnabas, which was cited by Clement of 
Alexandria, St. Jerome and other authorities of the early 
church, but which later was deemed apocryphal, we find very 
many helpful words about the indwelling spirit. 

Wherefore God truly dwells in our house, that is, 
in us. . . . 

He himself prophesies within us, he himself 
dwelleth in us, and openeth to us who were in 
bondage of death the gate of our temple, that is, 
the mouth of wisdom. 

Ep. of Barnabas xii., 21, 22. 

After the miraculous conversion of Paul, he and others of 
his company went to the house of Philip and abode with him ; 
of Philip it is said : 

And the same man had four daughters, virgins 
which did prophesy. Acts xxi., 9. 

Here again we see that women, as well as men, received 
power through spiritual influx. 

The great psychic wave, the crest of which was the Resur- 
rection, had slow ebb. For a century or more after the day 



SPIRITUAL INFLUX 133 

of Pentecost, signs and wonders followed those who believed, 
and many men and women filled with spirit willingly gave 
their lives for the faith that was in them. Yet days of 
darkness followed, as night follows day. While here and 
there a star gleams through the heavy clouds at night, so now 
and then, even in the "Dark Ages," saints are seen. Many 
smaller waves of spirit-power, following in the wake of the 
larger waves, brought forth shining examples of those who 
were spirit-moved. What save a great influx of the spirit 
gave impetus to preaching like that of Peter the Hermit, 
which made kings leave their thrones and men their homes, 
to go to Palestine and fight for the freedom of the Holy 
Sepulchre ? 

Another wave came laden with the thought of democra- 
tizing religion, and brave Luther's voice, sounding loud, 
broke the clouds in Germany. Other thinkers followed his 
lead, and the right of the individual to obey the voice of his 
own conscience was partly established. But the spirit of 
persecution was still strong, and even the reformers were not 
free from this evil. A later wave in England gives us that 
loyal soul, Bunyan, whose prison was flooded with light. 
Like St. Augustine, he was impelled to give up a life of 
worldliness and devote all his splendid energies to religious 
work by a constant call of the spirit. "A voice did suddenly 
dart from heaven into my soul." (Grace Abounding, p. 17.) 
"Which, as I did both see and feel soon after, was sent from 
heaven as an alarm to awaken me to provide for what was 
coming. ,, (Ibid. p. 55.) "But at last the Lord came in 
upon my soul." (Ibid., p. 146.) The same psychic wave 
that brought Bunyan to a realization of "Light in the spirit," 
found George Fox, who listened to the Voice in his soul and 
felt the Inner light. Fox suffered persecution while striving 
to help his brother man to see that "God who made the world 
did not live in temples made with hands." The text-book of 
Quakerism for his day was Barclay's Apology. Here we read : 



134 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

"The testimony of the spirit is that alone by which true 
knowledge of God has been, is, and can be only revealed. 
. . . By the revelation of the same Spirit, He hath mani- 
fested himself all along unto the sons of men, both patriarchs 
and prophets and apostles ; which revelation of God, by the 
Spirit, whether by outward voices and appearances, dreams, 
or inward objective manifestations in the heart, were of old 
the formal object of their faith and remain yet so to be." 
(Proposition II, p. 17.) Following the wave which gave 
Quakerism to the world was a higher one, which bcre on its 
crest Beethoven, Mozart, and others, to whom the Spirit 
e ranee in melody to enrich the world. While in the 
Ear north one lone star, of more than first magnitude, arose — 
! uxdenborg, who was very sure that spirits talked with him. 
He has taught us much regarding intercommunication. To 
a friend he said, "A man lays himself open to grievous errors 
who tries, by barely natural powers, to explore spiritual 
things. " One of Swedenborg's biographers sums up his views 
on this subject thus: "The reason of the danger of man, as 
at present constituted, speaking with spirits, is, that we are 
all in association with our likes, and, being full of evil, these 
similar spirits, could we face them, would but confirm us in 
our own state and views." (Wilkinson, pp. 156-225.) 

Higher still the psychic wave of the nineteenth century 
was, when not only one or two or three great souls can be 
singled out as helping on the progress of spiritual knowledge ; 
for this wave spread over nearly all of Europe and the 
United States, and the spiritual influx was so great that 
thousands were added to the believers, while hosts of 
mediums demonstrated that messages came from beyond the 
grave. This wave is sometimes counted as the beginning of 
"Modern Spiritualism." But the thoughtful man knows that 
spiritism is as old as the human race; and has found some 
souls ready to receive power from on High, in every land. 
For that light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the 
world must and will be felt all along the way. 



SPIRITUAL INFLUX 135 

Now, after a very dark night, a day is dawning, a wave is 
rising that will spread all over the civilized world. Before 
the middle of this century it will reach a height greater than 
any wave that has preceded it. 

And greater works than these shall he do ; because 
I go unto my Father. John xiv., 12. 

To-day many poets, painters, sculptors, and musicians are 
feeling the power within pressing for utterance. Artists point 
the way ; others follow in the wake. Already many eminent 
scientists are coming forward to help demonstrate that which 
the artist feels, and religious thinkers are beginning to ask 
for scientific proofs of their belief. This influx of spirit 
power is now so strong that the new wave is grinding up the 
rocks, pounding down the sand, and striving to weld some of 
the isms into fertile earth. We need not worry over seisms 
and isms, grinding time must ever come before welding time. 
More and more the children of men are asking for knowledge 
of their heavenly Father, seeking for light in other mansions 
than dear Mother Earth. They are feeling the pressing power 
of loving souls gone Over There, who wish to tell of their 
happy home and new work in other parts of God's kingdom. 
Many men and women, old and young, are discovering their 
own latent psychic talents. In every town, in many homes, 
we find someone who is clairsentient enough to point the 
way, someone gifted with real ears and eyes. 

Amidst the salt-swamps of literature relating to spiritistic 
phenomena, we find here and there a flower of beauty or a 
fragrance ; many things of interest and some of worth. As 
the wave spreads much will be covered and lost, the debris 
swept away, the shells broken ; yet that which is best will 
be cast upon the shore. 

When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the 
Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against 
him. Isa. lix., 19. 



XVI 
EVOCATION 

God is departed from me, and answereth me no 
more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams, therefore 
I have called thee, that thou mayest make known 
unto me what I shall do. I. Sam. xxviii., 15. 

11 Whether we fearfully deprecate or recklessly 
invoke a spirit of evil, spirits of truth will not 
answer to our call. They have still enough human 
nature about them to decline communication with 
those who take them for devils." Robert Dale Owen. 



The question whether it is ever right or wise to call those 
who have gone beyond the veil, is differently answered by 
teachers to-day, and is one that should have our careful 
consideration. Some religious cults positively forbid any 
spirit evocation, even where there is a firm belief in the 
possibility of doing so — saying that we disturb the spirits* 
rest, or interfere with their progress by calling them back to 
earth conditions. This is especially the teaching of the 
modern Theosophist, who, while he is a spiritist, is opposed 
to all the phenomena of latter-day " spiritualism." And the 
Christian Scientist is forbidden by his founder, who was 
herself an excellent medium, all forms of communication 
with the world of spirits. 

The Roman Catholic Church, which has always encouraged 
her children to invoke the saints and the Blessed Virgin, not 
only calling on them for aid, but asking their prayers, has of 
late, through her priests, sent forth some very ably written 
books dealing with the subject of spiritism and occultism, in 
which we read that apparitions coming unsought, as those of 

136 



EVOCATION 137 

the Virgin and of saints, are permitted, but the evocation of 
spirits is forbidden, the paramount teaching in these books 
being that all modern miracles are works of the devil, and 
that evil and not good spirits come to those invoking help 
from the spirit world. 

With the thought in mind that all phenomena are of the 
devil, and that only evil spirits come to those invoking the 
so-called dead, it would be strange if the highest and best 
answered to the call. It is a well-authenticated fact that we 
get what we bring. A deaf person does not hear the birds 
sing; one with no musical ear will like jazz noise as well as 
an oratorio. Those without musical education will scarcely 
discriminate between the finer harmonies of classical music, 
and the loud, discordant notes in much of modern har- 
monies ( ?). It is much the same now as in the days when 
Jesus was on earth ; a voice then came from heaven and 

The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it 
said that it thundered ; others said, An angel spake 
to him. John xii., 29. 

A picture or a poem only means what we can see in it. A 
person who previously makes up his mind that only evil 
spirits commune with man, is very likely to find that kind 
coming to his call. A conscientious and learned investigator 
says : " In spiritual matters we receive what we expect, 
sympathy being a ruling element. . . ." " But the good 
is the rule; the evil (often good in disguise) is but the excep- 
tion. If we enter into God's economy to permit evidences 
and influences to come over to us from a higher phase of 
being, are we to believe that He excludes from these all that 
is true and good, and suffers only deceptions and false teach- 
ings, emanating from the devil and his angels, to reach us? 
Is this the doing of a Father whose tender mercies are over 
all his other works? " Robert Dale Owen. 

A favourite example given by the orthodox man who dis- 



138 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

favours spirit evocation, is that of Saul calling for the 
prophet Samuel, who says : 

Why has thou disquieted me to bring me up? 

I. Sam. xxviii., 15. 

This text seems conclusive, to the man who has made up his 
mind, that it is not best to call the spirits; for if the spirit 
of Samuel was disquieted by Saul, then all spirits would feel 
the same! May it not have been that Samuel would have 
enjoyed talking to David, or to a friend to whom he could 
bring a pleasant message, and yet would feel a repugnance to 
being called by Saul, especially at a time when, as Saul con- 
fessed, God had departed from him, for Samuel says: 

Wherefore then dost thou ask of me seeing the 
Lord is departed from thee and is become thine 
enemy? . . . 

Because thou obeyest not the voice of the Lord. 

I. Sam. xxviii., 16, 18. 

We see here that Samuel gave Saul to understand that he 
had heard the voice of the Lord. We are also told that while 
Saul had been unsuccessful in communicating either by 
prophets or by dreams, he believed that it was Samuel whom 
the woman of En-dor had evoked, and when he heard what 
the Lord's intentions were, and was told that he and his sons 
would die on the morrow, it is said : 

Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, 
and was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel. 

I. Sam. xxviii., 20. 

It is easy to see that Samuel's disquietude was on account of 
being the bearer of such a sad message, which God, in his 
mercy, had been hiding from Saul. That all which Samuel 
said came to pass at once, looks very much as if it were the 
prophet who came at Saul's call. If we believe with Paul 
that, 

Whatsoever things were written aforetime were 
written for our learning. Rom. xv., 4. 



EVOCATION 139 

we shall also take a lesson from the poets of other peoples. 
In the thrilling accounts of that one long, lone night, when 
Odysseus seeks advice from the Shade of the blind seer 
Tiresias, we remember that very many spirits came, all 
anxious to communicate. Yet Odysseus would not speak to 
any of his former friends, no, not even to his mother, until 
he had heard what the Theban prophet would foretell. After 
his talk with Tiresias, Odysseus held converse with many 
spirits, yet the prophet alone was able to f orsee or to advise. 
All the other spirits still had the limitations they had while 
in the flesh, and some knew less of what was happening on 
earth than did their interlocutor. Ajax still was angry over 
the loss of the arms and refused to speak with Odysseus. 
Homer has, in this account of the evocation of spirits from 
the unseen, taught us several important lessons. One is that 
not those nearest and dearest to us are best able to advise us, 
but those who have had wisdom and prescience while here 
will still retain these gifts on another plane. 

Virgil gives us a somewhat lengthy account of ^Eneas' 
experiences with the Cumaean Sibyl, whose sulphurous cave, 
where she evoked the spirits from the invisible, is still to be 
seen in the sunken crater of the Solferino, which lies between 
Naples and Cumse. When the Dardan ^Eneas was seeking 
to communicate with his father, the Sibyl says: 

" Pray for an answer, pray, the God 
She cries, the God is nigh ! 

Her form looks larger to the eye, 
Unearthly peals her deep-toned cry, 
The God comes rushing on his seer. 
So slack, cries she, at work divine, 
Pray Trojan, pray ! not else the shrine 
Its spell-bound silence breaks ! " 

^neas, addressing Apollo, now 

" From his inmost soul 
his supplication makes." 



140 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

I rids with a request that the God will not commit 
s, hut will himself the prophecy declare. 
er this, by aid of the Sibyl, marvellous visions come to 
.F.ncas. He sees his father and hears his voice, but is unable 
i him. That in this instance the one nearest and 
dearest 10 --"Eneas was wise enough to be able to advise him, 
we learn from the beginning of Anchises' speech: 
" Know first the heaven, the earth, the main, 
The moon's pale orb, the starry train, 
Are nourished by a soul, 
A bright intelligence, whose flame 
Glows in each member of the frame 
And stirs the mighty whole/' 

The doctrine of Karma is now explained to ^Eneas, and he 
is told much regarding why souls seek rebirth in the flesh. 
He is then shown a number of the great souls who are to be 
his descendants. These examples from the past, or, indeed, 
any number of such that might easily be added from the 
histories of occultism, are for those seeking light insufficient 
as proof that it is right or best to invoke the spirits. That we 
should evoke the spirit within us, and by its light learn, all 
spiritually minded men believe. That through the evocation 
of our own spirit we may commune with God in prayer, not 
only Christians, but children of God in many lands, are 
taught. 

Speaking to his disciples, Jesus says : 

But when the comforter is come, whom I will 
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of 
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall 
testify of me. John xv., 26. 

After his resurrection, Jesus again speaks of the Spirit that 
is coming in fuller measure : 

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy 
Ghost is come upon you. Acts i., 8. 

This prophecy was fulfilled in a little while. The Spirit of 
truth promised to the disciples, which came at Pentecost, 



EVOCATION 141 

comes to every man when the spirit within the heart is 
sufficiently evoked and cleansed of dross by fervent prayer 
and faith. That the Spirit of truth speaks that which it 
hears seems to indicate that it is a link in the chain which 
binds the soul of man to his Creator. 

As God's state is kingly, may there not be many links in 
the chain and many wires running to central, and many 
messengers in the etheric world who obey His mandates ? 

Who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers 
a flame of fire. Heb. i., 7. 

Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to 
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? 

Heb. i., 14. 

That God did not wait until the world was ready for the 
Savour to come in the flesh before he sent forth his angels 
to minister to man, we learn from many accounts throughout 
the Scripture. That God had been sending forth his minister- 
ing spirits since the world began and that his children were 
permitted to invoke their guardians without incurring dis- 
favour from the Almighty, we see by the frequent mention 
made of angels appearing to and conversing with the 
favoured sons of God. 

Unto the place of the altar, which he had made 
there at the first : and there Abraham called on the 
name of the Lord. Gen. xiii., 4. 

This text tells us that Abraham prayed, that he invoked God. 
The frequent mention made of his seeing and hearing the 
Lord talking to him, asking questions and receiving audible 
answers, shows us plainly that the one denominated " Lord " 
was an angel. When three men appeared to Abraham on the 
plains of Marme, one he calls Lord, the other two going to 
Sodom are by Lot called angels. Remembering that 

No man hath seen God at any time. I. John iv., 12. 
we can only conclude that these " men " or " angels " were 
God's messengers. In the history of Moses we sometimes 



142 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

read, M the angel of the Lord," and sometimes the "Lord"; 
even when the word God is used we are not to think that 
Moses saw or heard the Almighty. 

And Moses brought forth the people out of the 
camp to meet with God. 

And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, 
because the Lord descended upon it in fire ; and the 
smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, 
and the whole mount quaked greatly. 

Ex. xix., 17, 18. 

Here we see a natural phenomenon, a volcano in eruption. 
God is manifest in a work of seeming destruction; but it is 
not said that any one, even, Moses, saw God. 

Moses spake and God answered him by a voice. 

Ex. xix., 19. 

That this voice was Moses* guide, a messenger sent by God, 
is made clear in the succeeding verses, where Moses vras 
bidden by the Lord to come up, but was warned that the 
mount was dangerous for the people. Taking the whole 
history of Moses, which shows what a powerful and highly- 
developed soul he was, we should judge that he did not for 
an instant mistake the angel messenger, or a voice, for God. 
We have the words of the Master : 

And the Father himself which hath sent me, 
hath borne witness of me; ye have neither heard 
his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 

John v., 37. 

It is always right to invoke God. By so doing we may at 
times evoke not alone our own spirits, but the spirits of 
sainted men and women ; we may, if our vision is clear, see 
angels, and if our ears are attuned, hear a voice. The prophets, 
greater and lesser ones, when invoking God to aid them 
in their work, were often blessed by the presence of angels; 
were frequently able to see and hear God's messengers, 
who appear as men, or as angels, or as flames of fire, as 



EVOCATION 143 

the case requires ; and who are very often spoken of as 
Lord, or even as the Lord God. Believing, as all Christians 
do, that the New Testament gives fuller light than the Old 
Testament, we must conclude either that the patriarchs and 
prophets mistook the angel of the Lord for God, or else, 
which is more probable, that recognizing them as messengers 
of the Highest, wishing to show respect, addressed them as 
Lord. Though many times these messengers came unsought, 
and sometimes frightened those to whom they appeared, 
more often they were evoked by prayer. The sacrifice upon 
the altar, the hymn of praise, and, above all, the firm faith 
of the invoker that help will come from on High. 

In the account of Cornelius, a man who prayed to God 
always, we read that an angel appeared to him, and he was 
afraid and said : 

What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy 
prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial 
before God. Acts x., 4. 

This messenger tells Cornelius to send for Peter, describing 
the house where Peter lodges. When Peter arrives, he 
questions the centurion regarding his vision, who does not 
now say angel or Lord, but says : 

Behold a man stood before me in bright clothing, 

And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and 

thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of 

God. Acts x., 30, 31. 

Here we see a man who prayed to God always, not to angels 
or saints or his ancestors. His prayer evoked an angel, 
who appeared unto him as a man, and spoke to him of prac- 
tical things, giving directions which, Cornelius obeying, 
brought to him Peter, who told of the New Revelation : 

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the 
Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing 
good, and healing all that were oppressed of the 
devil ; for God was with him. Acts x., 38. 



144 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

We are now told that Peter baptised Cornelius and his house- 
hold. Later, speaking of this to the brethren, Peter says: 
The Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the 
beginning. Acts xi., 15. 

By this we see that the day of Pentecost was not unique, for 
even to the Gentiles the spirit came, and in Peter's own 
words, fell on them as on us at the beginning. It is not likely 
that Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Band, invoked God 
under the same name that the Israelites used; indeed, he 
may never have heard God called Jehovah or been conversant 
with the name, The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob ; 
which only goes to show that there is but one God under 
whatsoever name he is addressed. If the invoker has sufficient 
faith, and the time has come for him to receive vision, God, 
being no respecter of persons, as Peter had been taught, and, 
being all-wise, sends forth a messenger who is the one best 
suited to the individual's need. 

We are told in the Gospels that Jesus talked with Moses 
and Elijah. It is nowhere said that Jesus prayed to them or 
to any of the heavenly host, or asked their prayers. That he 
had the help of angels in times of need we know, for after 
his temptation we read : 

Behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 

Matt, iv., 11. 

Also, just before he was betrayed, it is written that he 

Kneeled down and prayed, 

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this 
cup from me ; nevertheless not my will, but thine, 
be done. 

And there appeared an angel unto him from 
heaven, strengthening him. Luke xxii., 41-43. 

By the example of the Perfect Man, we learn that all 
prayer should be addressed to the Father, for not only did 
Jesus himself thus pray, but he gave unto man a pattern 
prayer, which begins, " Our Father which art in heaven." 



EVOCATION 145 

When speaking to the disciples of his going hence, he bids 
them pray the Father in his name, and tells them plainly 
that he will not pray for them. 

And I say not unto you that I will pray the 
Father for you, 

For the Father himself loveth you. 

John xvi., 26, 27. 

Yet even in this same hour Jesus did pray to the Father for 
his disciples and for all who believe : 

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is 
truth. . . . 

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also 
which shall believe on me through their word. 

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art 
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in 
us. John xvii., 17, 20, 21. 

If we would follow the Master, it behoves us not to invoke 
any but the Highest when directing our thought to the 
Invisible World. Then He, who knows our necessities before 
we ask Our Father which art in Heaven, will send forth 
those of his messengers who will best understand and rightly 
aid us. We are bidden to ask, to seek, and to knock. In all 
these ways we can evoke the best in us, and receive from 
Above the highest gifts for which we are ready. 



XVII 
HEALING 

We are sometimes led to think that Divine Healing, or 
Spiritual therapeutics, has been evolved within the last cen- 
tury. Put if we study the Scripture we shall see that the 
gift of healing was bestowed upon some men in very early 
days. Also that it differs from purely mental healing. Of 
course, the mind should govern the body, should rule as 
sovereign supreme all the "Kingdoms of the earth" (the 
bodily parts), yet often times the mind is a king deposed. 
The kingdom is in much disorder, disputes arise, one part 
warring against another part. Then, instead of health, 
we have sickness. The Apostle says: 

Even your lusts that war in your members. 

Jas. iv., i. 

In some cases a stronger mind, or the kindly encouraging 
thought of another person, a physician, a priest, or a friend, 
may telepathically change the current of the person's mind 
and strengthen and support the weaker mind until it can 
again take its place as sovereign of the body. 

There are persons, many of them, whose mind and body 
are suffering, when a physician's art is of no avail. These 
afflicted ones if they knew it might be healed quickly and 
permanently if they would but go to the Fountain Head. 

And whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely. Rev. xxii., 17. 

If, like David, the sick souls would cry: 

O, Lord heal me. Ps. vi., 2. 

146 



HEALING 147 

And would feel as the psalmist did when he said : 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within 
me, bless His holy name. 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his 
benefits. 

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities: who hmleth 
all thy diseases. Ps. ciii., 1-3. 

David knew the Lord's dealings with the men of old : 

The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment 
for all that are oppressed. 
He made known his ways unto Moses. 

Ps. ciii., 6, 7. 

One of the ways that God made known unto Moses was that 
He was the healer. Said he not unto Moses : 

I am the Lord that healeth thee. Ex. xv., 26. 

Neither did Moses forget this, for when Miriam became 
leprous he did not take her to a physician, but cried unto the 
Lord, saying : 

Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. 

Num. xii., 13. 

We see here that healing from God is not always instanta- 
neous, for Moses was told that seven days must elapse before 
Miriam could be whole. Long before Moses' day we read of 
healing by the prayer of a faithful servant of God : 

Abraham prayed unto God and God healed 
Abimelech and his wife and his servants. 

Gen. xx., 17. 

Solomon, believing that God heard his prayers, asked not 
only for himself but for his people, that their griefs might be 
cured, and also asked of God Health for the land. In the 
answer that the king received, we find that God first required 
something of the people. 

If my people, which are called by my name, shall 
humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, 



148 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

and turn from their wicked ways : then will I hear 
from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will 
heal their land. II. Chron. vii., 14. 

Asa, who was obedient to the word of the law delivered unto 
him by one of the seers, had health, prosperity, and peace 
during a reign of thirty-five years. But, forgetting his bene- 
fits, and failing to rely solely upon God, he was reminded of 
remissness by another seer ; he then became wroth and put 
the man of God into prison and oppressed the people. His 
punishment was a disease that was exceeding great. 

Yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but 
to the physicians, 

And Asa slept with his fathers and died in the 
one and fortieth year of his reign. 

II. Chron. xvi., 12, 13. 

Although his disease was termed great, and lasted five years, 
the writer's thought is that if Asa had gone direct to God 
with his trouble, instead of to an earthly physician, he would 
have been healed. There are times when whole nations suffer : 

Why criest thou for thy affliction ? Thy sorrow 
is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: 
because thy sins were increased, I have done these 
things unto thee. Jer. xxx., 15. 

Here it would seem that sin and wickedness go hand in hand, 
and though physical health may be restored, sorrow is incur- 
able while there is a multitude of iniquity. That their enemies 
might not think that God had deserted his chosen people, 
even though he had thought best to punish them, he says : 

For I will restore health unto thee, and I will 
heal thee of thy wounds. Jer. xxx., 17. 

Isaiah also believed that God sends both sickness and health, 
both sorrow and gladness. 

For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, 
and smote him : I hid me and was wroth, and he 
went on f rowardly in the way of his heart ; I have 
seen his ways, and will heal him. Isa. lvii., 17, 18. 



HEALING 149 

We are not left in ignorance of how to obtain this healing of 
mind and body. It comes not alone by prayer or fasting, or 
faith in God. Isaiah is taught that all these are of no avail 
unless charitable works follow. 

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and 
that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy 
house ? 

When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, 
and that thou hide not thyself from thine own 
flesh ? 

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning 
and thy health shall spring forth speedily ; and thy 
righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of 
the Lord shall be thy rereward. Isa. lviii., 7, 8. 

No one of the Old World prophets described the Holy One 
of Israel more clearly than did Isaiah. In him Isaiah saw 
great healing power. 

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he 
was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of 
our peace was upon him, And with his stripes we 
are healed. Isa. liii., 5. 

The Apostle Peter voices the same thought. 

Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an 
example that ye should follow his steps. . . . 

That we being dead to sins should live unto 
righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. 

I. Peter ii., 21, 24. 

Many and marvellous were the works of healing done by 
Jesus of Nazareth. 

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in 
their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the 
kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all 
manner of diseases among the people. Matt, iv., 23. 

He went about, did not wait to be sent for. He taught, he 
exhorted them to seek God. He showed them how to heal. 



150 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

While in many instances the Master's touch, his presence, his 
word did the work of healing, yet said he not over and over 
again that it was faith. 

Daughter, be of good cheer ; thy faith hath made 
thee whole. Matt, ix., 22. 

Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to 
your faith be it unto you. Matt, ix., 29. 

Yet touch, or even bodily presence, was not necessary. When 
a woman of Canaan cried unto him to have mercy on her 
daughter, who was grievously vexed with the devil — after a 
short conversation, in which the woman showed her trust in 
him — 

Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, 
great is thy faith ; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. 
And her daughter was made whole from that very 
hour. Matt, xv., 28. 

Nor was faith in Jesus the property alone of the Jews. The 
centurion of whom the Elders of the Jews said to Jesus that 
he was worthy, 

For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a 
synagogue. Luke vii., 5. 

not only showed great faith, but humility, saying to Jesus : 

Lord, trouble not thyself : for I am not worthy 
that thou shouldst enter under my roof : Wherefore 
neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee : 
but say in a word and my servant shall be healed. 

Luke vii., 6, 7. 

Even the Master was surprised to find such a character as 
that of the centurion of Capernaum; it is said: 

When Jesus heard these things he marvelled at 
him, and turned him about, and said unto the 
people that followed, I say unto you, I have not 
found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 

And they that were sent, returning to the house, 
found the servant whole that had been sick. 

Luke vii., 9, 10. 



HEALING 151 

That healing could be accomplished at a distance when 
faith is strong enough, was the belief of the ancient Greeks. 
Hector was restored by the Will of God, even before his 
messenger arrived, yet the word of Apollo gave him vigour 
and courage. (Iliad, b. xv.) So it seems not so strange to 
us, that in the days of the Christ on earth, a man might be 
found whose faith was even greater than that of one of the 
house of Israel. Though the faith of the sick was a great 
factor in the healing, yet it was not always necessary for 
those healed at a distance. In many cases obedience was the 
important thing. There must always be co-operation, either 
through the one needing healing or someone closely connected 
with the diseased one, who comes to Jesus. The coming, the 
faith, the obedience of the sufferer, the touch, the spoken 
word, or the simple remedial prescription given by the 
Master. Various means are mentioned in Scripture, usually 
the simplest, never drugs, or stimulants, or the knife. On one 
occasion Jesus used both earth and water. 

And he answered and said, A man that is called 
Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes and said 
unto me, Go to the pool of Saloam and wash : and I 
went and washed, and I received my sight. 

John ix., ii. 

The remedial thing in this healing may have been obedience 
to the Divine word, yet we see that the Master did not 
hesitate to make use of the elements, as a means to the end. 
Perhaps this is to teach us that while faith and the coming 
(in our case prayer) and obedience to the law are the great 
trinity of healing, yet we should not despise simple means; 
to do this is to be oblivious of the fact that God made matter 
as well as spirit, and that he works through material agencies 
when that seemeth best to him. We cannot live in the flesh 
without air and water and the solid earth to stand upon, and 
to exist any length of time we need food. So why say these 
things are nothing, rather give thanks to God for providing 



152 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

for our necessities. The ability to heal, which, in the Old 
Testament, came largely by prayer of godly men, was given 
by the Master to his disciples; at first to the twelve. 

And when he had called unto him his twelve 
disciples he gave them power against unclean 
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of 
sickness and all manner of disease. Matt, x., I. 

Later to a larger number. 

After these things the Lord appointed the seventy 
also and sent them two by two before his face unto 
every city and place whither he himself would 
come. Luke x., i. 

And into whatsoever city ye enter and they 
receive you, eat such things as are set before thee ; 
And heal the sick that are therein and say unto 
them, the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 

Luke x., 9. 

Nor did the gift of healing depart from the disciples when the 
Master left this earth. The first apostolic healing mentioned 
is when Peter and John cured a lame man. 

And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him, with 
John, said, Look on us. Acts iii., 4. 

This shows the strength of united faith, the power of two 
that believed. Peter was spokesman, saying: 

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up 
and walk. Acts iii., 6. 

And as the lame man which was healed held 
Peter and John, all the people ran unto them, in the 
porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering. 

Acts iii., 11. 

Paul, who had never seen the miracles performed by Jesus, 
was strong in the power of healing. Of a man crippled 
from his birth it is said : 

The same heard Paul speak; who steadfastly 
beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to 
be healed. 






HEALING 153 

Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet, 
And he leaped and walked. Acts xiv., 9, 10. 

Here, as with Peter and John, the look, as well as the word, 
had potency. When enumerating spiritual gifts, Paul says : 

To another gifts of healing by the same spirit. 

I. Cor. xii., 9. 

After telling us that wisdom, knowledge, and faith all come 
from the same spirit, Paul includes healing, and says "gifts 
of" — showing that he recognised different kinds of healing 
requiring diversity of gifts. Is there not healing for the 
physical man, healing for the mind of man, healing for his 
soul? If the soul is sick, there can be no happiness Here or 
Hereafter. The sin-sick soul is in hell, even while in the 
body ; so it would appear that the very most important healing 
is that which liberates the soul from pain. This healing comes 
in different ways, to some suddenly as lightning or a tornado, 
to others it is like the coming of spring, wind and showers and 
sunshine alternating till the blossoms burst forth upon the 
apparently dead trees. Spiritual healing may be accomplished 
in silence, in the depths of the individual's own self. Or it 
may be brought about by the spoken word, for the word has 
dynamic power in the mouth of a believer. Jesus said : 

For whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven 
thee; or to say, Arise and walk. Matt, ix., 5. 

Consciousness of sin is such a weight upon the heart that 
until the self realises as darkness is dispelled by light, so sin 
and suffering flee away by the coming of love — real love — 
into the heart. As we open the door of our dwellings to 
admit light and air, we need even more to open the door of 
our hearts to admit the love of God. 

Next to the words of the Saviour, who tells us that God is 
love, and repeatedly tells us to love, there is probably nothing 
that has been written regarding the spiritual life, as seen 
through the love of God, which is more illuminating and help- 



154 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

ful than The Revelations of Divine Love, by Juliana of Nor- 
wich. This saintly woman prayed for an illness nigh unto 
death, that she might the better understand the suffering of 
Jesus. While exceedingly weak in the flesh, she had marvellous 
visions, and was taught the use of sin and sickness and how 
to utilise the fruit of pain. We see by her life that illness 
may be a blessing and a privilege when used, not for self-pity 
nor to elicit pity from others, but being borne with fortitude 
used to bring the spirit into closer touch with God. One of 
the truths that Juliana learned was that we have that inside 
us which should, and can, govern the flesh. " And in this I 
saw truly ; that the inward party is master and sovereign to 
the outward . . . that the outward party should draw the 
inward party to ascent, was not shewed to me, but that the 
inward party draweth the outward party by grace, and both 
shall be one in bliss without end by vertue of Christ, this was 
shewed. " It was while she was weak and suffering that she 
saw more clearly how the within part of us may assert itself, 
and that the within is the most important. Further, she 
tells us : " It is God's will that we take his behests and his 
comfortings as largely and as mightily as we may take them. 
And also his will that we take our abidings and our diseases 
as lightly as we may take them and set them at naught; 
for the lighter that we take them, and the less price that we 
set at them for love, less pain shall we have in the feeling of 
them, and the more thank and meed shall we have for them. 
. . . For it is God's will that we hold us in comfort with 
all our might, for bliss is lasting without end, and pain is 
passing." Throughout her blessed little book the teaching 
is love — the consciousness of God's love for us and the 
necessity, if we would be at peace, of our love for God. " For 
if we know him and love him, and reverently dread him, we 
shall have patience and be in great rest." In our own day 
many teachers and healers have arisen, and numerous cults, 
seemingly with therapeutics for their main objects. That 



HEALING 155 

thousands are flocking to the doors of these churches and 
lecture rooms is one sign that the psychic wave is rising. 
For the so-called " New Thought," " Mental Healing," 
" Christian Science," " Divine Science," " Mystical Thera- 
peutics," " Psychic-Therapy," etc., etc., are but different 
names for spiritual healing taught in the Bible. 

I am the Lord that healeth thee. Ex. xv., 26. 

Whether it be the sufferer's own mind or the mind of one 
with a stronger will, it is but an instrument used by the 
Higher Powers to reconstruct the movements of the soul, 
and help to make them harmonious. There is strength in 
numbers when they move together; but whether in groups 
or singly, whether in crying aloud or in silence, healing comes 
through co-operation, the human will in conjunction with 
the Divine Will ; our desire, His desire ; our wish, His wish. 
Some persons need more than a touch of the garment; they 
need to remember the injunction of the apostle: 

Casting all your care upon him ; for he careth 
for you. I. Peter v., 7. 

Then, having unburdened the heart of cares; fearing nothing 
but God and realising the promise that 

Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of 
righteousness arise with healing in his wings. 

Mai. iv., 2. 

we shall be healed. Though prayer and faith and obedience 
are the trinity of healing, and all that is necessary, when the 
mind is clear and strong and the soul not sin-sick, yet we 
are bidden to ask help also one of another. 

Is any sick among you? Let him call for the 
elders of the church and let them pray over him, 
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

Jas. v., 14. 
Though prayer and faith, in the eyes of this apostle, were of 
first importance, we see that he recommended the use of oil, 



156 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

telling us that the remedial things in nature, given us by the 
Lord, are tor our use. And not alone the elders', but any 
good man's prayers, were of avail. 

Confess your faults one to another and pray one 
for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual 
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 

Jas. v., 16. 

In this verse we find the quality of humility extolled, and 
the unburdening of the mind by confessing one to another a 
help to health. Said not the Master : 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the 
earth. Matt, v., 5- 

There can be no full inheritance without health. The way 
to gain this is amply set forth both in the Old Testament and 
the New Testament. To those who obey the Lord's behests 
the promise is: 

Thine health shall spring forth speedily ; . . . 

And the Lord shall guide you continually, and 

satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones ; 

and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a 

spring of water, whose waters fail not. 

Isa. lviii., 8, u. 



XVIII 
DREAMS AND VISIONS 

In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep 

sleep f alleth upon me, in slumbering upon the bed : 

Then he openeth the ears of men and sealeth 

their instruction. Job xxxiii., 15, 16. 

And Solomon awoke ; and behold, it was a dream. 

I. Kings iii., 15. 
Three times the shape of my dear mother came 
Pale, sad, dismayed, to warn me in my dream. 

Jer. Del Tasso. 



Though very much is being written to-day on the subject 
of dreams, it is mostly from the physiological side. That 
dreams often are due largely to physical causes is true, and 
this was known to the ancients. Hippocrates taught that 
dreams showed what diseases were incipient. Hannemann, 
the father of Homeopathy, following this same line, that, 
dreams presage diseases, decided that by knowing the dreams 
of his patients he could prescribe remedies. Some modern 
physicians will have it that dreams are mostly due to sexual 
disturbances. Freud, and Coriat, who simplifies Freud for the 
lay reader, in dealing with this particular aspect of the dream 
state, although admitting that there is a psychological reason 
for many dreams, leave out the spiritual and the prophetic. 

But we need not depend entirely upon the doctors or the 
theorists, who will always disagree, for our knowledge of 
dreams. A very excellent article on Dreams in the Catholic 
Encyclopedia has the following: 

" But the mystery of sleep is enhanced by the phenomenon 
of dream which accompanies it. That God may enter into 

157 



158 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

and communicate with man through dreams is asserted in 
Numbers xii., b, and more especially in Job xxxiii., 14. 
Accepting the historical truth of these facts, there is no 
reason indeed why God should not use dreams as a means 
of manifesting His will to man. God is omniscient and all- 
powerful and he loves man; he may, therefore, in order to 
disclose his purposes, choose natural as well as supernatural 
means. Now dreaming is a natural psycho-physical phe- 
nomenon, has undoubtedly its laws, which, however obscure 
they may be to many, are established by God and obey his 
bidding." 

Synesius of Cyrene, in the fourth century, extols dreaming 
as the simplest and surest mode of prophesying. St. Thomas 
Aquinas, after a thorough summing up of the causes of 
dreams, says : " Finally, dreams may be caused by spiritual 
agents, such as God, directly or indirectly through his angels, 
and the devil." 

That God uses dreams to teach men much that in their 
busy, waking hours they cannot receive, we see from 
numerous instances related in Scripture, and in profane 
history. Even Abraham, who entertained angels and talked 
with them, was sometimes instructed in visions of the night. 

After these things the word of the Lord came 
unto Abraham in a vision. Gen. xv., 1. 

When Abraham would deceive the king of Gerah about 
Sarah, we read : 

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by 
night. Gen. xx., 3. 

In this dream the king was told that Sarah was Abraham's 
wife. And God said unto him in a dream: 

Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity 
of thy heart. Gen. xx., 6. 

That Abimelech believed in his dreams is shown by his con- 
duct in restoring Sarah to her husband. 



DREAMS AND VISIONS 159 

It was not unusual for speech to be heard in dreams : 

And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream. 

Gen. xxxi., n. 
And God came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream 
by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou 
speak not to Jacob either good or bad. 

Gen. xxxi., 24. 

We know that Laban did not take heed ; yet, when he pur- 
sued Jacob he told him of this dream. 

There is a dream much higher than the literal or factual, 
which is the symbolical. It was this kind of dream that 
Joseph had, also his were prophetical. 

And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it 
his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a 
dream more, and behold, the sun and the moon and 
the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 

Gen. xxxvii., 9. 

While his father rebuked him, yet we see that Jacob was 
impressed by the dreams. Joseph was not only a dreamer, 
but an interpreter of others' dreams. It was through this 
faculty that he became rich and famous. Pharaoh, having 
called upon all the magicians and wise men of Egypt, and 
found none able to interpret his dreams, listened to his chief 
butler, who told of the dreams that Joseph had made clear 
to him and to the baker when they were in prison ; and how 
the interpretation had been fulfilled. Then Pharaoh sent for 
the Hebrew lad to interpret his dreams ; Joseph, with great 
modesty, takes no credit to himself : 

It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an 
answer of peace. Gen. xli., 16. 

Pharaoh recounts to Joseph his two symbolic dreams, which 
two were seen to be one by the Hebrew lad ; yet he is im- 
pressed by the repetition, saying : 

And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh 
twice it is because the thing is established by God, 
and God will shortly bring it to pass. Gen. xli., 32. 



160 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

When Joseph sent for his father and brethren to come to 
him, Jacob was assured by a dream that he should go. 

And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the 
night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here 
am I. 

And he said, I am God, the God of thy father; 
fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there 
make of thee a great nation. Gen. xlvi., 2, 3. 

This dream was purely factual ; of the same class was that 
of Solomon, when he asked for wisdom from the Lord. 

In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a 
dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall 
give thee. I. Kings iii., 5. 

There is an odd symbolical dream, related by a man who 
dreamed that a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host 
of Midian and overturned a tent. When the man told this 
dream, one of his companions interpreted it as meaning the 
sword of Gideon. 

And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of 
the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he 
worshipped, and returned unto the host of Israel, 
and said, Arise ; for the Lord hath delivered into 
your hand the host of Midian. Jud. vii., 15. 

The account of Daniel's interpretation of dreams is mar- 
vellous, especially his ability to tell Nebuchadnezzar what 
his dream was. It is noticeable in this instance that Daniel 
asked aid from three of his companions. 

That they would desire mercies of the God of 
heaven concerning this secret ; that Daniel and his 
fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise 
men of Babylon. 

Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a 
night vision. Dan. h\, 18, 19. 

It is not said that Daniel dreamed, but on several occasions 
that he had a vision ; also that he had understanding of the 
vision. 



DREAMS AND VISIONS 161 

For as much as an excellent spirit and knowledge, 
and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and 
shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of 
doubts, were found in the same Daniel. Dan. v., 12. 

Visions are of three classes : 
The Conscious Vision. 
The Subconscious Vison. 
The Vision in Trance or Sleep. 

Conscious and subconscious visions may be with the eyes 
open or the eyes shut; they may be objective or subjective. 
In Daniel's case the visions were often symbolical, yet had 
an objective reality. 

And I saw in a vision. 

Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw. 

Dan. viii., 2, 3. 

And it came to pass, when I, even I, Daniel, had 
seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, 
behold, there stood before me as the appearance of 
a man — 

And I heard a man's voice between the banks of 
Ulai, which called and said, Gabriel, make this man 
to understand the vision. Dan. viii., 15, 16. 

Many years later Daniel says : 

I was by the side of the great river, which is 
Hiddekel ; 

Then I lifted up mine eyes and looked and 

behold, Dan. x., 4, 5. 

After describing this vision and the appearance of the 
angels, he says : 

And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision : for the men 
that were with me saw not the vision, but a great 
quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide 
themselves. Dan. x., 7. 

That the men with Daniel did not see does not mean that the 
vision was subconscious, which we readily see if we read 
the entire account. 



162 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

We are forcibly reminded of Paul's vision. 

And as he journeyed, he came near to Damascus : 
and suddenly there shined round about him a light 
from heaven. Acts ix., 3. 

We are told that Paul fell to the ground, and heard a voice. 
Evidently the men with him were startled, but did not par- 
ticipate in the vision. 

And the men which journeyed with him stood 
speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 

Acts ix., 7. 

Not every one has visions, not every one who sees can 
interpret visions. Jeremiah felt that all dreams were not to 
be taken seriously. He hears the Lord say : 

Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor 
to your diviners, nor to your dreamers ; nor to your 
enchanters, nor to your sorcerers which speak unto 
you, saying, Ye shall not serve the kings of Babylon. 

Jer. xxvii., 9. 

Zechariah also sees that all dreams are not true. 

For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners 
have seen a lie and have told false dreams. 

Zee. x., 2. 

So we see that the prophets believed that some dreams 
were deluding. This recalls to mind the dream sent to Aga- 
memnon by Zeus, purposely to deceive him. 

Go to the Archive fleet 

Pernicious Dream, and being arrived in Aga- 
memnon's tent, 
Deliver truly all this charge. (Iliad b. ii., 6, 7. 

"That there are demoniacal dreams we have little 
reason to doubt. Why may there not be angelical ? 
If there be guardian spirits, they may not be inac- 
tively about us in sleep, but may sometimes order 
our dreams ; and many strange hints, instigations, 
and discoveries, which are so amazing to us, may 
arise from such foundation." 

(Sir Thomas Browne.) 



DREAMS AND VISIONS 163 

Plato, in the Timaeus, tells us that the gods do not send 
deceiving dreams. That the Greeks believed in dreams we 
see from the use that iEschylus, who was himself a dreamer, 
makes of visions in his tragedies. Clytemnestra was dis- 
turbed "by dreams and wandering terrors of the night," and 
her vision of the serpent was prophetic. (The Libation 
Pourers.) 

A remarkable dream, both symbolical and factual, came to 
Queen Atossa, acquainting her with Xerxes' defeat, (^s. 
The Persians.) Cicero gives in detail a long prophetic dream 
that Scipio had in the palace of Massinissa, and which was 
fulfilled, (de. Divinatione.) We sometimes hear it said that 
a dream must be repeated to be of importance. St. Columba, 
who had much conscious vision, as well as vision in sleep, 
dreamt that an angel of the Lord appeared to him, sent to 
urge him to crown Aidan king, instead of his brother. This 
dream came to Columba every night for three nights. "At 
last, in obedience to its command, the saint sailed back to 
Iona, where in due time he crowned Aidan King." 

That repetition is not necessary even in dreams of great 
importance, is shown in the New Testament, where not only 
St. Joseph, but the wise men, were instructed in dreams 
regarding the Holy Child Jesus. 

But while he thought on these things, behold, the 
angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, 
saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take 
unto thee Mary thy wife. Matt, i., 20. 

The Magi, who came to worship the Babe of Bethlehem, 
believed in dreams. 

And being warned of God in a dream that they 
should not return to Herod, they departed into their 
own country another way. Matt, ii., 12. 

And when they were departed, behold, the angel 
of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, 
Arise and take the young child and his mother, and 
flee into Egypt. Matt, ii., 13. 



164 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Joseph belonged to a race of dreamers, so it does not seem 
strange that he should believe what was told him in visions 
of the night, but that in this way God protected the Messiah 
is proof enough that all dreams are not idle rubbish, nor just 
disturbances of the physical man. 

But when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the 
Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 

Saying, Arise and take the young child and his 
mother and go into the land of Israel. 

Matt, ii., 19, 20. 

Joseph obeyed this, as he had the preceding dreams, yet, 
hearing that Herod's son was reigning in Judea, he was 
afraid to go hither. 

Notwithstanding being warned of God in a dream, 
he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. Matt ii., 22. 

Besides obeying the vision that he should return to the land 
of Israel, Joseph used his judgment and went not to Judea, 
but to Galilee. Here we find a most important lesson, that 
of using that very high gift of God, our judgment, in the 
matter of visions as well as in more ordinary things. In 
using one's judgment regarding dreams, we recall an occasion 
that Pliny describes. When he was making ready to plead 
a certain case, he says, "A vision of my mother-in-law, who 
threw herself on her knees before me and begged that I 
would not plead." He considered her advice, but then 
remembered, "One omen is best, to fight on behalf of one's 
country." So he went, contrary to the advice given in the 
dream. (Pliny's Letters, b. I., xviii.) 

Had Caesar listened to the warning given by Calphurnia in 
a dream, or Pilate to the dream of his wife, history might 
have written two different pages. Do not these cases say 
to us that warnings given in dreams should be weighed and 
considered. Pliny obeyed the dictates of his conscience, 
ignoring the advice of his mother-in-law. Caesar permitted 



DREAMS AND VISIONS 165 

a man to influence him against his better judgment. In 
Pilate's case it is difficult to judge, for he was an instrument 
used for a foreordained sacrifice. 

There are numberless instances of instruction given in 
dreams. Epimenides of Crete referred all his power to predict 
"to wisdom gained in his long slumber and which was re- 
newed in visions of the night. " Marcus Aurelius, in one of 
his Meditations, thanks the gods for teaching him in dreams. 
Many inventions have come to the mind of men in sleep or in 
waking visions. Births and deaths are often so foretold. 
Eithne's dream, interpreted for her by an angel, was pro- 
phetic, that her son about to be born, "should blossom for 
heaven and be of so beautiful a character that he should be 
reckoned among his own people as one of the prophets of God, 
who should lead innumerable souls to the heavenly country." 
"Archbishop Theodore, of blessed memory, departed 
his life old and full of years, for he was eighty years of 
age, which number of years he had been wont long before to 
foretell to his friends that he should live, the same having 
been revealed to him in a dream. " (Bede's Ecc. His., p. 246.) 

There are some interesting records of two persons having 
the same dream the same night, which would seem to refute 
the theory that dreams are entirely subjective. It is related 
that Alfred the Great and his mother, Osbourgh, when sleep- 
ing in the same tent, were visited by St. Cuthbert. "When 
they awoke they repeatedly declared that each had had the 
selfsame dream." (Wm of Malmesburg, Chap, iv.) Robert 
Dale Owen has a most interesting chapter on dreams in his 
"Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World," more than 
one example of the selfsame dream occurring to two persons 
on the same night. In one instance the two persons were 
friends living several hundred miles apart. Another case is 
that of a mother and son living in different towns in England. 
Goethe, speaking of his grandfather's prophetic powers, says, 
"We children knew well enough that he was often informed, 



166 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

in remarkable dreams, of things that were to happen." Dr. 
John Abercrombie gives a number of curious and well- 
authenticated prophetic dreams; in conclusion he says, "The 
subject is not only curious, but important." (Intellectual 
Powers, p. 224.) 

Space does not permit us to take up the dreams and visions 
of mediaeval saints. Notable among dreamers and those with 
conscious vision were St. Augustine's mother, St. Catherine 
of Sienna, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Theresa. Of all 
the conscious and subconscious visions we read of in modern 
times, none are clearer than those of Juliana of Norwich, and 
they are unsurpassed in devotional value. Wonderful, indeed, 
are the mysteries of the dream world. An English 
philosopher and physician says, "We are somewhat more 
than ourselves in our sleep, and the slumber of the body 
seems to be but the waking of the soul. ,, (Sir Thos. Browne, 
Religio Medici.) To-day it would seem that the prophecy is 
being fulfilled which says: 

Your old men shall dream dreams and your 
young men shall see visions. Joel ii., 28. 



XIX 
TRANCE 

And the angel that talked with me came again 
and waked me, as a man that is awakened out of 
his sleep. Zee. iv., i. 

But while they made ready, he fell into a trance. 

Acts x., 10. 



Although some writers class trance, ecstasy, and catalepsy 
as analogous, they are very different, from a psychic, if not 
from a physiological, point of view. Catalepsy is a temporary 
suspension of various functions to a more or less degree, and 
sometimes a loss of self-consciousness. It is frequently 
induced by a hypnotist and may last several days. Ecstasy 
may or may not be in conjunction with trance. It is a con- 
scious or at least a semi-conscious condition, wherein the soul 
transcends the purely material and comes into touch with the 
etheric world, so that the interior senses are augmented, or at 
least clarified, and in many cases visions are the result. Yet 
while the wrapt spirit is seeing, hearing, or feeling beyond its 
usual powers, the subject will still be self-conscious and know 
that it is I who am thus translated into another sphere. 

Ezekiel was sometimes in ecstasy and was conscious of 
what he saw and heard. 

And the spirit lifted me up between the earth 
and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of 
God to Jerusalem. Ez. viii., 3. 

More often this prophet experienced trance. 

Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon 
my feet, and spake with me. Ez. iii., 24. 

167 



168 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Zechariah, who was gifted with conscious and sub- 
conscious vision, who saw and heard his angel guide, was 
also a trance subject. Several times he says: 

The angel that talked with me (which might 
better read the angel that talked within me). "The 
Massoetic text, the Septuagint, and the Vulgate all 
agree in thus describing the communication made 
by the angel to the prophet. It is a pity that 'The 
Revised Version' should in apparent defiance of the 
above named texts, obscure this trait by persistently 
giving the rendering, 'the angel that talked with 
me/ instead of 'within me.' " (Catholic Encyl.) 

In trance, when it is complete, there is no knowledge of 
who I am, or where I am. Hippocrates describes trance as a 
loss of conscious perception. Trance may be divided psycho- 
logically into two kinds: conscious and unconscious, and 
morally into three kinds. First that which is wholly good ; 
second, that which is wholly evil ; and third, that which is 
neutral. Trance is wholly good when it is conscious and 
induced for a righteous end. It is only trance on the surface 
then for the conscious self will still regulate the possession of 
the citadel. In the case of Paul, trance was always conscious. 

Even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a 
trance. Acts xxii., 17. 

In at least one instance Paul's trance state amounted to 
ecstacy. 

(Whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether 
out of the body I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 

How that he was caught up into paradise, and 
heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for 
a man to utter. II. Cor. xii., 2, 4. 

Peter's trances were also conscious and wholly good. 

But while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 
And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel 
descending unto him. . . . 



TRANCE 169 

While Peter thought on the vision, the spirit said 
unto him, Behold three men seek thee. 

Arise therefore, and get thee down and go with 
them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. 

Acts x., 10, ii, 19, 20. 

There is a conscious trance that sometimes occurs during 
sleep. 

And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, 
behold then an angel touched him, and said unto 
him, Arise and eat. I. Kings xix., 5. 

Now as he was speaking with me I was in a deep 
sleep on my face toward the ground ; but he touched 
me, and set me upright. Dan. viii., 18. 

Trance is wholly evil when, either consciously or uncon- 
sciously, evil spirits, or elementals, take possession of the 
Sensitive. There is more danger of this demoniacal possession 
in the unconscious trance, for the individual then seems to 
have no control over what is happening. We remember that 
at one time Saul was possessed by an evil spirit. 

But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, 
and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. 

I. Sam. xvi., 14. 

Trance, conscious or unconscious, may be neutral ; that is, 
may amount to nothing, and one would wish, if it were not 
wholly good, it might be wholly evil, for then it might have 
power to come to the good. 

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither 
cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 

Rev. ih\, 16. 

An unconscious trance, whether it is good or evil, largely 
depends upon the aura of the psychic. A brilliant aura drives 
away the spirits of darkness. They are afraid of light, not 
afraid of sunlight or of gaslight, but of that light which 
comes from spiritual illumination. . . The aura of an 
individual is the etheric warp which encircles the body and 
which reflects the vibration of the soul, and also those clearer 



170 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

and stronger colour vibrations of the "discarnate spirits" 
attracted to the incarnate soul. 

In the Scripture, unconscious trance is usually designated 
by the words, "falling into sleep." Abraham's trance is thus 
recorded. 

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep 
fell upon Abraham : and lo, an horror of great dark- 
ness fell upon him. Gen. xv., 12. 

The most remarkable case of trance recorded in the Bible 
is that of Balaam. He is the only one mentioned whose 
trances are with the eyes open, which is a very exceptional 
kind of trance. That these trances of Balaam were wtiolly 
good we see from the way the power was used, and that 
Balaam preferred to do the bidding of the heavenly mes- 
senger to being enriched by Balak. He refused to sell his 
gift ; hence, not being blighted by the curse of gold, or the 
desire for power, it grew and flourished and Balaam's fame 
is perennial. 

It would appear that St. Augustine's mother, who was 
gifted with visions in dreams, was also a trance subject. 
"One day she fell into a swoon and was for a while with- 
drawn from these visible things." (Confessions, b. ix., 
chap ii.) St. Augustine also describes a like phenomenon in 
the case of a certain Restitutus. (de Civ. Dei xiv., 24.) 

Elizabeth Barton, called the Holy Maid of Kent, was a 
martyr to the truth of trance. A Carthusian monk, writing 
to this maid's confessor in part says, "Let us praise God, who 
has raised up this holy virgin, a mother, indeed, to me — and 
a daughter to thee; for our salvation." Later, the same 
monk writes, "Of late it has pleased God to give us some 
knowledge of his secret and wonderful works, which he works 
daily in his special spiritual daughter." The venerable bishop 
Fisher believed in the virtue of "The Holy Maid," who pre- 
served an unusual reputation for holiness. She became a 



TRANCE 171 

nun in a Benedictine convent, but her enemies would have it 
that her remarkable trances, which amounted often to 
ecstacy, were the work of an evil spirit. She was persecuted, 
and imprisoned, and put to death. (Henry VII. and the 
English Monasteries, by Abbot Gaszuet, D.D., O.SB.) 

A German peasant girl, Ann-Catherine Emmerich, who died 
in 1824 and is already sainted, had many visions resembling 
those of Juliana of Norwich. She constantly refers to the 
Passion of our Lord ; but whereas Juliana was fully conscious, 
and wrote her own Revelations, Ann-Catherine had her visions 
while in trance and did no writing, being an ignorant girl 
who could not possibly know all the things she discoursed of 
while unconscious. Her trances and ecstacies resemble those 
of the "Holy Maid of Kent," but Ann-Catherine was not 
persecuted or imprisoned, for the clergy of her day were more 
enlightened than those of the sixteenth century. They were 
willing to believe, and glad to record, the sayings of this 
peasant girl while she lay in trance, so many interesting 
details of her life and her remarkable visions are preserved. 

Though it is true that some of the great souls of this earth 
have tranced, and the world has been made richer and better 
by the revelations so received, yet it is undesirable, certainly, 
from any point of view, to encourage trance to the point of 
unconsciousness. The continued practice of trance when 
unconscious, weakens the will, so, even if it is good, serving a 
good end in the beginning, it may result in the dispossession 
of the soul's temple, so that another entity than the one to 
whom the body belongs will inhabit it ; or, it more often is 
the case, that various entities "slip in" and many times 
undesirable, if not really evil spirits, take possession for a 
time of the citadel which does not belong to them, and 
prevent the soul that should be sovereign from developing 
and using its own body. 



XX 

POSSESSION AND OBSESSION 

And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is 
mad : why hear ye him ? John x., 20. 

For there are the spirits of devils working 
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth 
arid of the whole world. Rev. xvi., 14. 

"I hold that the devil doth really possess some 
men, the spirit of melancholy others, the spirit of 
Delusion others ; that, as the devil is concealed and 
denied by some, so God and good angels are pre- 
tended by others." Sir Thos. Browne. 



We know very little more at the present day about the 
causes of those psychic states known as possession and 
obsession than was known in the time of the prophets of 
Israel. But we are learning to treat such cases in a little 
more Christian spirit than was exercised by our Puritan 
ancestors. As far as we can learn from the Scripture, the 
priests, who were also the physicians, did nothing save 
condemn those denominated witches and wizards. 

Regard not them that have familiar spirits, 
neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them. 

Lev. xix., 31. 

There shall not be found among you any one 
that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through 
the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of 
times, or an enchanter, or a witch. 

Or a charmer or a consulter with familiar spirits, 
or a wizard or a necromancer. Deut. xviii., 10, 11. 

Not only in the Pentateuch do we find these legislations 
against witches and wizards and consulters of familiar spirits, 

172 



POSSESSION AND OBSESSION 173 

but centuries later these same laws prevailed. When Saul, 
in disguise, went to visit the woman of En-dor, she said to 
him: 

Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how 
he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits and 
the wizards out of the land. Wherefore then layest 
thou a snare for my life — to cause me to die? 

I. Sam. xxviii., 9. 

Saul assures the woman that she will be perfectly safe, and 
begs that she will "call up" Samuel. We see that the same 
one who made the law is willing to break the law, for Saul 
found that all the usual ways of communication with the 
world of spirits that were known to him were now of no avail, 
save only that of consulting a woman with a familiar spirit. 

And when Saul inquired of the Lord ; the Lord 
answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by urim, 
nor by prophets ; 

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a 
woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go 
to her and enquire of her. I. Sam. xxviii., 6, 7. 

It seemed not to occur to the men of olden time that 
possessed persons needed kind treatment ; their one hue and 
cry was against them. The rulers, who were under guidance 
of the priests, condemned wholesale anyone striving to give 
light in an unrecognized channel. They did not see the 
necessity of striving to know who was and who was not 
possessed by an evil spirit. 

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. 

Ex. xxii., 18. 

This was quite on a par with the law that required the stoning 
of a woman who had lost her virginity. Not only did the 
priests of Israel persecute those thought to be witches and 
wizards, and those who consulted with familiar spirits ; not 
only did the Church of Rome execute like judgment in Spain, 



174 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 
in France, in Italy, and in Germany* ; but Luther, the great 
Protestant Reformer, says, "I should have no compassion on 
these witches, I would burn all of them." (Table Talk, p. 
251.) We are not surprised that Calvin, in remodelling the 
laws of Geneva, left those which condemned witches to the 
stake unaltered ; but it is a surprise and a grief that our own 
Puritan ancestors, who came to America to enjoy religious 
liberty, should follow the legislators of the Old Testament, 
and the mediaeval inquisitors, instead of the example of 
Jesus of Nazareth. 

A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit 
or that is a wizard shall surely be put to death. 

Lev. xx., 27. 

This was more a law in New England than the Master's 
words. 

For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's 
lives, but to save them. Luke ix., 56. 

The Puritans read such verses as : 

Regard not them that hath familiar spirits, 
neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them. 

Lev. xix., 31. 

But did they as carefully read the foregoing verses of the 
same chapter: 

Ye shall not eat anything with the blood ; neither 
shall ye use enchantments, nor observe times. 

Lev. xix., 26. 

They all ate meat and kept feasts, if not the feast or the fast 
of the Hebrews, at least their own and their children's birth- 
days. Did they read attentively the early part of this 
chapter ? 

*"Tens of thousands of victims perished by the most agonizing and 
protracted torments, without exciting the faintest compassion . . . 
In Italy a thousand persons were executed in a single year in the pro- 
vince of Como ; and in other parts of the country the severity of the 
inquisitors at last created an absolute rebellion." Lecky, Rationalism 
in Europe, Vol. I., pp. 28-31. 



POSSESSION AND OBSESSION 175 

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge 
against the children of thy people, but thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. 

Lev. xix., 1 8. 

The law of love, the first and foremost law of the Christian 
religion; that commandment on which hangs all the law 
and the prophets, had not taken very firm hold of the hearts 
or the consciences of the men who governed in New England 
in early days. 

Let us read a few extracts from the history which shows 
what happened in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 
A.D. : — "Mary Parsons was kept in prison for a year, simply 
for consulting with a familiar spirit ; her husband was tried 
later and found guilty, but not legally guilty." (Hutchingson 
His. of Mass. Bay.) Ann Hibben (1655) was condemned and 
executed. Mr. Beach, of Jamaica, in a letter to Increase 
Mather, speaking of Ann Hibben, says, "Your famous Mr. 
Norton once said, at his own table, before Mr. Wilson, the 
pastor, Elder Penn, and myself and wife, who had the honor 
to be his guests, that one of your magistrate's wives, as I 
remember, was hanged for a witch only for having more wit 
than her neighbours. . . . She had guessed that two of 
her persecutors, whom she saw talking on the street, were 
talking about her, which, proving true, cost her her life." 
In Gov. Winthrop's journal (1618) we read of a case called 
witchcraft, where one Margaret Jones of Charlestown was 
hanged. The principal charge against her was that she cured 
a little child. Of course she was not an M.D. ; there was a 
mystery about the cure; hence the devil. " (John Arthur, 
The Devil in Britain and America.) 

In "Memorable Providences Relation to Witchcraft and 
Possession," by Cotton Mather, on the first page we find a 
most interesting account of the Goodwin children. In sub- 
stance this : Four out of six of these children were supposed 



176 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

to be bewitched. It was said that they could fly, which re- 
minds us of some psychics spoken of by Ezekiel: 

Behold I am against your pillows, wherewith ye 
there hunt the souls to make them fly. Ez. xiii., 20. 
Cotton Mather took the eldest daughter of John Goodwin to 
his own home to try to cure her ; from the description given 
she must have been a very interesting psychic subject. She 
was gifted with clairvoyance and clairaudience ; also she 
often tranced. It is said that "By dint of energetic prayer 
she began to amend. " Although Mr. Mather may not have 
Valued those eyes and those ears which our Lord called 
blessed, nor have understood that with such gifts this girl's 
"possession" may have been by a good and not by an evil 
spirit, yet prayer is always helpful, and this was certainly a 
Christian way of treating a case deemed witchcraft. 

If, instead of judging where they could not judge, the 
inquisitors and the over-zealous Puritans had followed the 
teachings of Jesus, some of the pages of history would not 
be blotted with innocent blood. Nowhere in the New Testa- 
ment are we told to put witches to death. The command of 
the Master is : 

In my name shall they cast out devils. 

Mark xvi., 17. 

That it is quite possible to be deceived in cases of spirit 
possession, and class those of high inspirational value as 
demoniacal or insanity, is shown by the fact that even the 
Saviour of Men, whose supermundane power was always 
used for good, was by some, who failed to recognize his 
power, said to be possessed by a devil. 

And many of them said, he hath a devil, and is 
mad — why hear ye him ? John x., 20. 

Others said : 

These are not the words of him that hath a 
devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? 

John x., 21. 



POSSESSION AND OBSESSION 177 

When the Son of Man was questioned as to his powers, his 
answer was : 

The works that I do in my Father's name, they 
bear witness of me. John x., 25. 

When the disciples were trying to cast out evil spirits and 
were unsuccessful, they asked Jesus why ? He said : 

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer 
and fasting. Matt, xvii., 21. 

Here we see that in difficult cases the exorcisor should not 
only pray, but fast and pray. Be himself in excellent train- 
ing, mentally and spiritually, before he tries to heal those who 
are possessed. It was on the day after the Transfiguration 
that Jesus healed the boy possessed of an evil spirit, which 
was evidently very serious, for the father of the boy says : 

And lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth 
out and it teareth him, that he foameth again and 
bruising him hardly departed from him. 

And I besought thy disciples to cast him out and 
they could not. Luk ix., 39, 40. 

And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed 
the child, and delivered him again to his father. 

Luke ix., 42. 

Many times did Jesus cast out devils and healed those so 
afflicted. Even a man who frequented tombs, that no man 
could bind, and was possessed, not by one evil spirit but by 
a legion, was not condemned to death nor tortured by our 
Lord. No, the Saviour had compassion on the poor obsessed 
spirit, and commanded the unclean spirits to come out. 

And they came to Jesus and see him that was 
possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting 
and clothed, and in his right mind ; and they were 
afraid. Mark v., 15. 

And certain women, which had been healed of 
evil spirits and infiirmities, Mary called Magdalene, 
out of whom went seven devils. Luke viii., 2. 



178 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Perhaps no other case of healing has so impressed the 
conscience of Christianity as that of the woman taken out to 
be stoned by the Pharisees, whom Jesus pardoned and 
healed, showing thereby that the law of Moses was to give 
place to a higher law. Not only did Jesus tell them, but 
showed them that love is the fulfilling of the law. This same 
Mary, who thereafter administered unto the Lord, was the 
first to see the risen Christ. 

Jesus saith unto her, Mary; she turned herself 
and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, 
Master. 

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not ; for I am not 
yet ascended to my father : but go to my brethren 
and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and 
your Father; and to my God, and your God. 

John xx., 1 6, 17. 

Here we see that this woman, whom the Pharisees would 
have stoned, who had been possessed by seven devils, was 
unusally favoured by seeing and hearing her beloved Master, 
and having him say to her, My Father, and your Father. 

Jesus not only told the twelve disciples how to cast out 
devils, but gave this power to others. 

And the Seventy returned again with joy, saying 
Lord, even the devils are subject unto us, through 
thy name. Luke x., 17. 

One instance of exorcizing an alien spirit is given in the life 
of St. Paul, when he was at Philippi : 

And it came to pass as we went to prayer, a 
certain damsel possessed with the spirit of divination 
met us, which brought her masters much gain by 
soothsaying ; 

The same followed Paul and us and cried, saying, 
These men are the servants of the most high God, 
which shew us the way of salvation. 

And this did she many days, But Paul being 
grieved, 'turned and said to the spirit, I command 
thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. 
And he came out the same hour. Acts xvi., 16-18. 



POSSESSION AND OBSESSION 179 

It is not said that this damsel was possessed by an evil spirit. 
The fact that she prophesied that these men would show the 
way to salvation would seem to argue that the spirit was a 
good one. Yet, because of divining, which was used for 
material gain, and that the damsel was under the control of 
mercenary men, Paul was grieved. Probably this young 
woman was possessed to the point of obsession, and Paul 
wished to help her to regain her own consciousness, and be 
rid of the familiar spirit. By so doing, Paul made enemies 
of the men who made their living by this means, and was 
" landed in jail " ; yet this apparent ill turned to good, for it 
was now that Paul converted the jailer and all his family. 

Not all familiar spirits are evil ; they are merely " earth- 
touching " and good as well as bad spirits remain on earth 
for a time after leaving their body of clay. Did not Jesus, 
the risen Lord, remain for forty days on this plane, not only 
appearing, but walking with those in the flesh? 

And it came to pass that while they communed 
together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and 
went with them. Luke xxiv., 15. 

How, then, shall we be justified in condemning all " earth- 
touching " spirits. Many sweet souls become familiar spirits 
to those in the flesh ; walk beside them, are seen by them. 
Sometimes, it is true, these spirits come too near and may 
possess the one they love; also there is danger of silly souls, 
ignorant, and undeveloped spirits, possessing those who too 
easily open the door. Sad as it may seem, evil spirits, devils, 
call them so if you will, edge in when the way is left for 
them. Hence it is of the utmost importance that our citadel 
be guarded, that the door into the world of spirit be only 
opened by prayer, and that the self sit on the throne and 
govern its own city — the body — which is the temple of its 
spirit. Then, if for a good reason, a righteous end, the self 
is willing and desirous of being possessed, let it take heed 
unto itself and permit only the good to enter. For even the 



180 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

highest inspirational work one should be fully conscious, and 
know what kind of a spirit is taken into partnership. Never 
should the self entirely resign in favour of another entity, 
but always use the faculty of God-given judgment respecting 
the impressions coming from the Overworld. As Paul says : 

For whether we be beside ourselves it is to God. 

II. Cor. v., 13. 

Paul was never so beside himself that he was unconscious ; 
even when caught up into the third heaven he felt and saw. 
When possession passes beyond self-consciousness it is 
obsession, which is always fraught with danger, for the will 
of the individual is weakened when hypnotism occurs, 
induced either by one in the flesh or by a discarnate soul. 

All unconscious trance is hypnotism, whether on this plane 
or from the spirit world. There is always danger in this 
state, especially if continued in for any length of time. Even 
if in the beginning the hypnotist is of a high order of spirit, 
and the work done by the sensitivie subject good, yet the 
constant giving up of the will to another is unwise; the 
hypnotist becomes more and more dominant, and the subject 
becomes weaker. After a time it will not be possible to regu- 
late who shall take possession, and then begins a state that 
often ends in obsession of the psychic by a lower order of 
spirits than is desirable. These are not necessarily evil 
spirits, but usually ignorant and often mischievous entities. 
A very large percentage of insanity is obsession. This kind 
of insanity can be cured, often is, by driving out the alien 
spirit and restoring the temple to its rightful owner. Very 
much along these lines has been done in modern times by 
wise physicians and psychologists. Robert Dale Owen says: 
" The enlightened portion of society must either discredit 
the gospel biographies or accept the fact that possession may 
occur, and may be cured in our day." (The Debatable Land, 
p. 203.) 

" Persecution is a bad and indirect way to plant religion." 
(Sir Thos. Browne.) 



XXI 
THE SPIRIT'S RETURN 

Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the 
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 

Mai. iv., 5. 

And if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was 

for to come. Matt, xi., 14. 

Elias is come already and they knew him not. 

Then the disciples understood that he spake unto 
them of John the Baptist. Matt, xvii., 12-13. 

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy 
coming in from this time forth and even forever- 
more. Ps. cxxi., 8. 



The understanding of, or the belief in, rebirth into the 
physical, does not seem essential to spiritual growth or to 
the development of psychic powers; for many seers and 
sain's have passed through life without being conscious that 
they were ever here before, or, if conscious, that this life was 
not their first earth experience, yet they were not clear in 
their minds who they may have been in a previous 
existence. It certainly explains much of the seeming injus- 
tices of life, this doctrine of Karma, which gives us reasons 
some are born rich and others poor, some live to old 
age, ethers die as infants, some have every advantage of 
education and travel, others live their lifelong in ignorance 
and squalor. A belief in reincarnation is very comfortable 
for most persons. The question naturally arises, have we 
any scriptural authority for such a doctrine? 

181 



182 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

It is a matter that we should investigate and for which we 
can find ample teaching in the Bible. When the priests and 
Levites asked John the Baptist: 

Who art thou ? 

And he confessed, and denied not : but confessed, 
I am not the Christ. 

And they asked him, what then ? Art thou Elias ? 
And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? 
And he answered, No. 

Then said they unto him, Who art thou? That 
we may give an answer to them that sent us. What 
sayest thou of thyself? 

He said, I am the voice of one crying in the 
wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as 
said the prophet Esaias. John i., 19-23. 

So John knew that Isaiah had prophesied concerning him. 
It is just possible that he did not recognise the prophecy of 
Malachi as referring to him : 

Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, 
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of 
the Lord : 

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the 
children, and the heart of the children to their 
fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. 

Mai. iv., 5-6. 

It is entirely consistent for John to have said to his ques- 
tioners, I am not, when asked if he were Elias, even if he 
knew he had been, for now he was John the Baptist. The 
disciples of Jesus were evidently familiar with the prophecy 
that Elijah should come before the advent of the Messiah. It 
is recorded by two of the Evangelists that when coming down 
from the Mount of Transfiguration, where Peter, James, and 
John had been convinced that Jesus was the Christ, they 
asked him, saying : 

Why then say the Scribes that Elias must first 
come? 



THE SPIRIT'S RETURN 183 

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias 
truly shall first come, and restore all things. 

But I say unto you, that Elias is come already 
and they knew him not, but have done unto him 
whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son 
of Man suffer of them. 

Then the disciples understood that he spake unto 
them of John the Baptist,. Matt, xvii., 10-13. 

All this must have puzzled the three disciples, who had but 
a little while ago seen and heard Jesus talking to Moses and 
Elias, unless, indeed, they recalled the words of the Master, 
spoken earlier, while John the Baptist was still on earth: 

Jesus began to say unto the multitude concerning 
John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? 
A reed shaken with the wind ? 

But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed 
in soft raiment? Behold they that wear soft 
clothing are in king's houses : 

But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? 
Yea, I say unto you and more than a prophet; 
For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold I send 
my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare 
thy way before thee. Matt, xi., 7-10. 

Continuing his remarks about John, Jesus says : 

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until 
John, 

And if ye zihll receive it, this is Elias which was 
for to come. Matt, xi., 13-* 4- 

So we see that while John may not have recognized him- 
self, Jesus, the Christ, knew who he had been, and told the 
same to the disciples. The fact that the Master said, If ye 
will receive it, this is Elias (Matt, xi., 14) shows that Jesus 
knew how difficult it is to impart anything new into the mind 
of man. In making the announcement to the multitude, that 
John the Baptist, who was then in prison for having displeased 



184 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Herod, was the great prophet Elijah, that it would not be 
received by all the Master knew. Hence he adds : 

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

Matt, xi., 15. 

Evidently Peter, James and John, if present at this time, 
had not heard in the sense of being able to understand, what 
the Master said, otherwise they would not have asked the 
questions they did when returning from the mountain after 
witnessing the appearance of Elijah and Moses. St. Mark 
also records this conversation in the 8th chapter of his 
Gospel. That John the Baptist, so very lately beheaded, 
should appear to the Lord as Elijah, and be so recognised by 
the three disciples, would accord with the Oriental teaching 
that a spirit may assume the form of his most important 
incarnation, and that Elijah was the life that John the Baptist 
preferred. Here it is well to remember the statement that 
Jesus, after the resurrection, did not always appear the same. 

After that he appeared in another form unto two 
of them. Mark xvi., 12. 

One of the great Oriental teachers of this century, while in 
this country, was asked why he said nothing about reincarna- 
tion. His reply was, " It has been already too much accented 
in the East." Perhaps this is why we have so little of this 
doctrine in the New Testament, though he who runs may 
read that Paul was conversant with this teaching, also that 
the seer of Patmos makes reference to it, for among the 
promises made to the faithful is this : 

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the 
temple of my God, and he shall go no more oat. 

Rev. iii., 11. 

The promise that we shall go no more out after overcoming 
all the weaknesses of the flesh, certainly suggests that we 
have been going out. The Psalmist is thought by some to 
refer to these goings out and comings in, to the flesh, rather 
than just earthly changes of place (Ps. cxxi., 8). 



THE SPIRIT'S RETURN 185 

Mother Juliana, an Anchorite of the fourteenth century, 
in England, a very devout member of the Catholic Church, 
gives an instance of how the Lord shewed her that one of her 
friends on earth, in her own time, had been a saint of old. 
" And St. John of Beverley our Lord shewed him full highly 
in comfort of us, for homeliness and countreysake : and 
brought to my mind how he is a kind neighbour and of our 
knowing : and God called him plainly St. John of Beverley, 
as we do." (Revelations of Divine Love, chap. 38.) 

Much, very much, has been written on reincarnation in 
these latter days, but is it not sufficient for Christians that 
Jesus taught that the spirit of man may, yes, does, return and 
have another corporeal existence. Also that he showed his 
disciples the truth of intercommunication — let them hear and 
see him talk with Moses and Elijah, whom the three disciples 
recognised, and that Jesus told Peter, James, and John that 
this Elijah was the same John the Baptist so lately gone from 
their midst. Surely this example of the Master refutes 
all the Oriental teaching that it is wrong to try to speak with 
those lately gone Over. It is something that the Christian 
Church is very slow in perceiving, that Here and Now it may 
be our privilege to see and hear those gone Before. It is a 
Gospel teaching, not only that the spirits return to communi- 
cate with those still in the flesh, but a direct teaching of the 
Master, who himself, after the Ascension, spoke to Paul and 
converted him through that one great experience. (Acts ix., 
3-7-) So we see that it is not alone earthbound spirits or 
devils, or those unhappy souls from the lower regions that 
return. For Jesus, the Risen Christ, not only appeared and 
reappeared while still on earth, but spoke to Paul and later 
to John the Divine from the realms above. 

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end. Rev. xxi., 6. 



XXII 

OUR BODIES 

After that he appeared in another form unto two 
of them as they walked, and went into the country. 

Mark xvi., 12. 

Handle me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh 
and bones as ye see me have. Luke xxiv., 39. 

He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead 
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit 
that dwelleth in you. Rom. viii., 11. 



The mantle of clay which we use in our planetary life, 
which serves as a house for our more ethereal forms, and 
separates us each from the other, is called by many names. 
It is the vehicle through which, and by means of which, we 
express ourselves in this work-a-day world. It acts on and is 
acted upon by matter. It is not to be despised, for it is 
necessary in our contact with the material that this earth 
body be whole and well, if we would labour effectively in this 
vineyard of the Father. The tendency to deny the body, to 
say it is nothing, is not healthy or sane. Our body of clay is 
as necessary to the development of the higher vehicles within 
it as the burr is to the chestnut, the shell to the almond, the 
skin to the apple. The earth body is a wonderful mechanism, 
so marvellously fashioned, so intricate, that it is not strange 
that the scientist, who often is a materialist, should hold that 
it is all of man, or that the psychologist should think of the 
body as the one vehicle of the soul, whose powers he 
perceives to be different from matter. 

Within the visible body is a counterpart that has not the 
same limitations as has the material body; by some this 

186 



OUR BODIES 187 

vehicle is called the astral or star body. It is very like the 
outer wrap, so like, indeed, that when sent forth, either 
consciously or unconsciously, by a strong thought or wish to 
be elsewhere, it frequently is mistaken for the material body 
by those able to see it. Only those with astral vision can 
see this counterpart of the earth house. The astral body, 
when sufficiently developed, may leave the material body at 
any time, but this happens more frequently during sleep. 
Many persons are conscious of seeing other places and people, 
also of hearing, and sometimes, though less frequently, of 
smelling and tasting during their sleeping state. A sensation 
of floating or flying while asleep is one of the earliest stages 
of astr?l activity. It is a mistake to think, because one sees 
his own or another person's astral, that death is near at hand. 
This but shows development on another plane of being. 

Few persons while in their earth body are conscious of any 
vehicle beyond it and the astral counterpart, but there are 
those, still in the flesh, who have felt and seen their " etheric 
double" ; who, by means of it, can see into the etheric world, 
which is everywhere intersphered with the material world. If 
this more sublimated body is well developed, the possessor of 
it will be able to see and hear those who dwell in etheric 
wraps, which is a higher clairvoyance than to see astral 
bodies. The etheric body is not conditioned by space or 
time or weight. The astral to some extent has these limita- 
tions. That astral bodies have been weighed, measured, and 
photographed, is stated by more than one eminent scientis 
of to-day. It is no longer a vague, ghostly wraith of the past ; 
science has recognized that there is such a body belonging 
to animals as well as to humans. Now that the interest in 
ether is so general, and the study of this attenuated form of 
matter, that fills interstellar space, yes, and the space between 
the atoms, is progressing, it may not be long before science 
will admit that there is also an etheric body for each earth 
body to function in. 



188 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

A close study of the lives of the prophets of Israel will 
show us that many of them used their etheric vehicle. 

So the spirit lifted me up and took me away. 

Ez. iii., 14. 

Moreover the spirit lifted me up and brought me 
unto the east gate of the Lord's house. Ex. xi., 1. 

And the spirit lifted me up between the earth 
and the heaven. Ez. viii., 3. 

In each of these instances the prophet saw and heard and 
was conscious of being in a different place from where his 
physical body was. 

Daniel also had the gift of consciousness in two places at 
once, of projecting his etheric self to a distance. 

I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the 
province of Elam ; and I saw in a vision, and I was 
by the river of Ulai. Dan. viii., 2. 

Not only the prophets, but the apostles, had bodies with 
eyes that see and ears that hear beyond earth sight and sound. 

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, 
(whether in the body, I cannot tell ; or whether out 
of the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth;) such an 
one caught up to the third heaven. 

II. Cor. xii., 2. 

After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened 
in heaven : and the first voice which I heard was as 
it were of a trumpet talking with me : which said, 
Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which 
must be hereafter. Rev. iv., 1. 

While there are a number of instances recorded in Holy 
Writ that speak to us of one or two bodies different from the 
house of clay, bodies having senses more acute — senses that 
perceive things at a distance and even in the celestial spheres 
— yet it remains for the student to meditate on the life of the 
Perfect Man if he would see the use and control of all the 
bodies provided for man, the child of God, to function in here 
and on other planes. First, this high Spirit, whose coming 



OUR BODIES 189 

had been foretold by many prophets, whose birth into an earth 
body was announced by the angel Gabriel, was born of woman. 

And she brought forth her first born son, and 
wrapt him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a 
manger. Luke ii., 7. 

Second, that this Son of God had a normal body, a vehicle of 
clay, subject to temptations and capable of suffering. 

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and 
in favour with God and man. Luke xii... 52. 

Being forty days tempted of the devil, And in 
those days he did eat nothing: and when they were 
ended, he afterward hungered. Luke iv., 2. 

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly : 
and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood 
falling down to the ground. Luke xxii., 44. 

Not only was he tempted, and did he suffer, but he lived a 
full life. He ate and drank and enjoyed social life. 

There they made him a supper and Martha 
served. John xii., 2. 

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and 
they say, Behold a man gluttonous and a winebibber. 

Matt, xi., 19. 

And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat 
in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also 
together with Jesus and his disciples. Mark ii,, 15. 

And he went unto the Pharisee's house and sat 
down to meat. Luke vii., 36. 

We nowhere find that Jesus was ascetic. He lived a full- 
orbed life. The texts that tell us he was born of woman, 
that he grew and increased in stature, that he ate and drank, 
and suffered from hunger, and felt mental agony even to the 
sweating of blood, all refute the idea that some teachers have 
had that Jesus' earth body was only an appearance. 

There is a tendency to-day to revert to the Docetic heresy 
which St. John decries, bidding every one to acknowledge 
that Jesus came in the flesh. Yet, though a real flesh and 



190 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

bone body was worn by the Son of Man, the soul animating 
it was so highly evolved that his use of this earth body, even 
at the present day, is phenomenal. The power to make the 
clay body invisible at will is still a mystery to science. 

But he passing through the midst of them went 
his way. Luke iv., 30. 

He also understood levitation, so that he at will could demate- 
rialize his body enough so that it was lighter than water. 

But when they saw him walking upon the sea, 
they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out. 

For they all saw him and were troubled. And 
immediately he talked with them. Mark iv., 49, 50. 

That they all saw him, shows us that he appeared in his earth 
body. 

That during his life on earth Jesus showed a different 
body from the clay mantle to those who had attained to 
vision, is related by three evangelists : 

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James and 
John his brother and bringeth them up into an high 
mountain apart. 

And was transfigured before them and his face 
did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as 
the light. Matt, xvii., 1, 2. 

And he was transfigured before them: 
And his raiment became shining exceeding white 
as snow: so as no fuller on earth can white them. 

Mark ix., 2, 3. 

And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance 

was altered, and his raiment was white and 

glistening. Luke ix., 29. 

The body seen by the disciples on the Mount of Trans- 
figuration was that which to-day we call the astral, which 
Paul calls the " soul body." This body is the one next in 
substance and most like the physical body, but more bright, 
and it has shining raiment when the soul is pure. This body 
is used by all earth-touching spirits, all those angels who, in 



OUR BODIES 191 

the old dispensation, were called men. When developed, the 
soul body is easily used by those still in the flesh. Jesus had 
not only the power of levitating his physical body, and of 
showing his astral body, and of making himself invisible at 
will, but he was able to dematerialize, as well as to materialize, 
matter other than his own body. The most remarkable case 
on record of the power to dematerialize, is that of the raising 
of Lazarus from the dead. Prophets, apostles, and saints of 
the olden times, and of the latter days, have brought the dead 
to life. But is there in in any country, in any age, an instance 
of life being restored after decomposition had set in? Lazarus 
had been dead four days. Palestine is a warm climate. 
When Jesus told them to take away the stone, 

Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith 
unto him. Lord by this time he stinketh, for he hath 
been dead four da John xi., 39. 

To have called Lazarus back to a body that had begun to 
putrefy would have been useless. Therefore, before the Lord 
called Lazarus to come forth from the grave, it was necessary 
to make his body a fit habitation for his soul. The process 
of dematerialization alone would turn the atoms back to their 
natural state, and then, in being rematerialized, a whole and 
healthy body could be formed by one who understood the 
law govern spirit and matter. 

We are frequently 'old by the evangelists tha f Jesus 
pra av his own words recorded, showing that 

he had asked power of him with whom all things are possible, 
and him in whom alone abide the issues of life and death. Jesus 
now asked of the Father, as he has bidden us to do, that is, ask, 
Believing ye shall receive. Matt, xxi., 22. 

And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I 
thank thee that thou hadst heard me. 

And I knew that thou hearest me always; But 
because of the people which stand by I said it, that 
they may believe that thou hadst sent me. 

John xi., 41, 42. 



192 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

It is then said that Jesus cried with a loud voice, bidding 
Lazarus to come forth. 

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand 
and foot with grave clothes. John xi., 44. 

Later on we read : 

Then Jesus, six days before the passover, came to 
Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, 
whom he raised from the dead. John xii., 1. 

Again it is said that much people came to where Jesus was. 

And they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that 
they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised 
from the dead. John xii., 9. 

Of all the works done while in the flesh, none was greater 
than the raising of Lazarus. But now comes the " miracle M 
which has been a stumbling block to very many for nineteen 
centuries, that of Jesus bringing his own body from the 
grave. That the body of the Resurrection was not quite the 
same as that which walked on earth before the Crucifixion 
there can be little doubt. It was His body glorified and 
etherealized. The spirit within was so strong, His conquest 
over matter had been so perfect, that the body of clay could 
be transmuted into the etheric body — which was the body of 
the Resurrection. If the etheric body had been exactly the 
same as the one laid in the grave on Friday, would not Mary 
Magdalene, coming to the grave on the first day of the week, 
have recognized her Lord immediately, not waiting for him 
to speak or to open her etheric vision ? 

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am 
not yet ascended to my Father. John xx., 17. 

There could have been no objection to a touch from a 
friendly hand, the hand that had anointed his feet, if the 
body had been a physical one. Further, it is written : 

Then the same day at evening, being the first day 
of the week when the doors were shut where the 
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came 
Jesus and stood in the midst. John xx., 19. 



OUR BODIES 193 

So he could pass through closed doors. Also that he could 
be touched later on we learn from the same evangelist : 

And after eight days again his disciples were 
within and Thomas with them : Then came Jesus, 
the doors being shut and stood in the midst, and 
said, Peace be unto you. 

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger 
and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and 
thrust it into my side and be not faithless but 
believing. John xx., 26, 27. 

After these things Jesus shewed himself again to 
the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. John xxi., 1. 

On thib occasion, which St. John says was the third time 
that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, there is an account 
of a long talk with St. Peter, which apostle, when preaching 
at the house of Cornelius, said : 

Him God raised up the third day, and showed 
him openly ; not to all the people, but unto wit- 
nesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did 
eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. 

Acts x., 40, 41. 

Peter was an eye-witness of the Resurrection. Paul had a 
marvellous demonstration, seeing His light and hearing His 
voice on the way to Damascus. He tells us that Jesus was 
seen by Cephas, also by the Twelve. 

After that he was seen of above five hundred 
brethren at once ; of whom the greater part remain 
until the present, but some are fallen asleep. 

After that, he was seen of James ; then of all the 
apostles. 

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one 
born out of due time. I. Cor. xv., 5, 6, 7. 

The accounts of what happened after the Resurrection 
differ slightly, yet it is worthy of note that while only two of 
the gospels give the story of the birth of Jesus, and but two 
give an account of the Ascension, yet all four tell of the 



194 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 
Resurrection, while both Peter and Paul confirm what is 
said in the gospels. 

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galiliee, 
into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them, 

And when they saw him, they worshipped him: 
but some doubted. Matt, xxviii., 16, 17. 

St. Mark also tells us that some believed and some did not. 
St. Luke speaks of their being frightened. 

But they were terrified and affrighted, and sup- 
posed that they had seen a spirit. 

And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? 
and why do thoughts arise in your hearts ? 

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself : 
handle me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and 
bones as you see me have. . . . 

And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and 
of an honeycomb. 

And he took it and did eat before them. 

Luke xxiv., 37-43- 

That all did not believe, that they who saw him were terrified, 
serves to point to the fact that Jesus did not appear exactly 
the same as before the great transformation. Again we read : 

After that he appeared in another form unto two 
of them, as they walked, and went into the country. 

Mark xvi., 12. 

This incident of Jesus walking with two of the disciples is 
given at greater length by another evangelist : 

And it came to pass that while they communed 
together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and 
went with them. Luke xxiv., 15. 

During the walk to Emmaus (about three score furlongs) 
and the long talk, we see that Jesus was not recognized 
by the two disciples. "That other form ,, in which he now 
appeared, partook more of the physical than even of the 
astral or the etheric it would seem, for evidently the two 



OUR BODIES 195 

men with whom he walked and talked were not frightened, 
nor did they take him for a spirit, for Cleopas says : 

Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem and hast 
not known the things which are come to pass therein 
these days? Luke xxiv., 18. 

When they came to their journey's end they asked the 
"stranger" to abide with them. 

And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, 
he took bread and blessed it, and break and gave to 
them. 

And their eyes were opened, and they knew him : 
and he vanished out of their sight. 

Luke xxiv., 30, 31. 

That Jesus had the power of vanishing is told us that we 
may see that the putting on of the mantle of flesh was but a 
temporary manifestation. That same night, while the two 
who had journeyed with him to Emmaus were telling the 
other disciples of how the Lord had been known to them in 
breaking of bread, Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst as 
a spirit. So we see that the Pattern Man, who had worn a 
mantle of flesh for three and thirty years, during which time 
he had shown perfect control over his earth body, and also 
had appeared in an astral form (at the Transfiguration) came 
forth from the tomb in an etheric body so different from the 
other bodies that at first those nearest and dearest did not 
recognize him. Jesus had the power to so materialize this 
body of the Resurrection that it could be handled and seen 
as a man, yes, mistaken for a stranger by his disciples ; that 
it could eat and drink and talk and make itself known, and 
still had the ability to come through closed doors and to 
vanish at will is attested by the evangelists. 

Later we see that the Risen Christ possessed a body even 
more sublimated than the etheric. And this we call the 
spiritual body. Although but two of the gospels give any 
account of the Ascension, we find further testimony and a 
fuller narrative given in the Acts of the Apostles. 



196 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Until the day in which he was taken up, after that 
He through the Holy Ghost had given command- 
ments unto the Apostles whom he had chosen — 

To whom also he shewed himself alive after his 
passion by many infallible proofs; being seen of 
them forty days and speaking of the things pertain- 
ing to the kingdom of God. Acts i., 2, 3. 

Now comes a record of the promises Jesus made to his 
disciples, and his directions to them about their ministry : 

And when he had spoken these things, while they 
beheld, he was taken up: and a cloud received 
him out of their sight. 

And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven 
as he went up, behold two men stood by them in 
white apparel ; 

Which also said, Ye men of Galiliee, why stand ye 
gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is 
taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in 
like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 

Acts i., 9, 10, 11. 

Then, O wondrous light ! He grew more bright, 

More h iminous, and floated upward, out 

Of sigh ; while angels who with men w T ere watching 

Spoke t Jesus' sad disciples, telling 

Them their Lord had gone to heaven, a place 

To prepare as He had promised them, 

That where He was they too should be when they 

Had put on immortality. 

Thus in the life of our Elder Brother was manifested 
power to use his physical body in a marvellous way, ability to 
show other bodies while still in the flesh, and after he was 
risen from the grave knowledge of how to take on or put off 
at will the heavier wraps and appear in various forms. 

The first fruits of them that slept. 

I. Cor. xv., 20. 



XXIII 
THE SUPREME PSYCHIC 

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet 
of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth 
peace; Isa. Hi., 7. 

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and 
kings to the brightness of thy rising. Isa. lx., 11. 

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of 
the Highest. Luke i., 32- 



That our psychic faculties may be unfolded to an almost 
unlimited degree we see when studying the life of the Pattern 
Man, our Elder Brother, who came to show us the way. 
Jesus of Nazareth, the Perfect Man, as the supreme Psychic 
of the w r orld ! His marvellous way of handling matter was 
not supernatural ; it was natural. All of nature was to him 
an open book. He understood the elements and could do 
as he chose with them, not breaking any natural law but 
knowing and using a higher law. Before Jesus began his 
public ministry he had entirely mastered himself. As a lad 
he was obedient to his parents. 

And he went down with them, and came to 
Nazareth, and was subject unto them. 

Luke ii., 51. 

This submission to parental authority, even after he had 
shown in the Disputation with the doctors in the Temple 
that he was in advance of the learned men of his day, is part 
of his self-mastery. 

His mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou 
thus dealt with us? Behold thy father and I have 
sought thee sorrowing. 

197 



198 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

And he said unto them, How is it that you sought 
me? wist ye not that I must be about my 
Father's business? Luke ii., 48, 49. 

Jesus had recognized within his own spirit the Fatherhood 
of God. When the spirit led him into the wilderness to be 
tempted he was further able to hold his body in subjection. 
Having fasted forty days and forty nights, he rose superior 
to any temptation for self-aggrandizement. The desire for 
fame, fortune, and power in the worldly sense were all put 
underfoot (where the earth gauds should be), when he com- 
manded : 

Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, thou 
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only 
shalt thou serve. Matt, iv., 10. 

Having decided that his kingdom should not be a temporal 
one, it is said: 

Behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 

Matt, iv., 11. 

Now it was that he began to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah. 

The people that walked in darkness have seen a 

great light. Isa. lx., 2. 

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 

Repent : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

Matt, iv., 17. 
Heretofore heaven had been thought of as something in 
the future. In the New Dispensation we are taught to realize 
this state of blessedness here and now. What the Master 
wished his followers to know was that the kingdom of heaven 
is within each human soul. The sum and substance of the 
Master's teaching, the commandments, which, if strictly 
kept, permit us to unfold our own spiritual and psychic 
senses, are all found in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus 
tells that he speaks what he hears : 

For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father 
which sent me, he gave me a commandment what 
I should say, and what I should speak. 

John xii.. 49. 



THE SUPREME PSYCHIC 199 

Conscious of his sonship, and being able to hear the Father, 
is it any wonder that : 

The people were astonished at his doctrine, 
For he taught them as one having authority, and 
not as the scribes. Matt, vii., 28, 29. 

John the Baptist, who was sent to bear witness of the 
Messiah, says: 

For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words 
of God : for God giveth not the Spirit by measure 
unto him. John iii., 34. 

Jesus felt this fulness of the spirit within himself, and recog- 
nized his oneness with the Father. Speaking to the woman 
of Samaria, he says : 

But the hour cometh and now is, when the true 
worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit and 
in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship 
him. John iv., 23. 

Also when this woman spoke of the coming of the Messiah, 
Jesus said unto her : 

I that speak unto thee am he. John iv., 26. 
Yet, despite the knowledge that he was the Messiah, the 
Redeemer of Israel, so long expected, how humble he was! 

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of 
himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what 
things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son 
likewise. John v., 19. 

Again, Jesus says : 

I can of mine own self do nothing : as I hear, I 
judge; and my judgment is just; because I seek 
not mine own will, but the will of the Father which 
hath sent me. John v., 30. 

In this statement of Jesus lies a wonderful lesson, not to seek 
our own will, for, although God has endowed us with free- 
will, only when acting in conjunction with the Higher will 



200 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

is our will effective. While we are far away from home, on 
our pilgrimage, it is important that we ask the way, so as 
not to wander too far, and lose the path. A daily asking the 
way is a sine que non of attainment. Otherwise, instead of 
climbing the mount, we are like those who sit around and 
pluck blackberries and daub their natural faces, unaware 
that 

"Earth's crammed with heaven 
And every common bush afire with God." 

(E. B. B.) 

When Jesus taught in the temple it is said that: 

The Jews marvelled, saying, >How knoweth this 
man letters, having never learned ? 

Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not 
mine, but his that sent me. John vii., 15, 16. 

And I speak to the world those things which I 
have heard of him. John viii., 26. 

With all his humility, how sure Jesus was that God had 
sent him. 

I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is 
true, Whom ye know not. John vii., 28. 

For I proceeded forth and came from God: 
neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 

John viii., 42. 

How filled he was with the knowledge of God. 

Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: 
and if I should say, I know him not, I should be a 
liar like unto you: but I know him and keep his 
sayings. John viii., 55. 

Also Jesus realized that he had been before this birth in the 
flesh. 

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: 
and he saw it and was glad. John viii., 56. 

This text is sometimes given as a proof of Abraham's faith 
and foreknowledge, but Jesus further says: 



THE SUPREME PSYCHIC 201 

Verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham 
was, I am. John viii., 58. 

Not by words only, but by deeds, did Jesus seek to con- 
vert. 

The works that I do in my Father's name, they 
bear witness of me. . . . 

If I do not the works of my Father believe me not. 

But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the 
works: that ye may know, and believe that the 
Father is in me, and I in him. John x., 25, 37, 38. 

Thus the Perfect One lets us see the secret of his works, that 
he listened for the Voice Divine, that he had perfect faith 
in the Father, that he realized not alone the God within, but 
the God in whom we live and have our being. "Highly owe 
we to enjoy that God dwelleth in our soul ; and more highly 
we owe to enjoy, that our soul dwelleth in God. Our soul is 
made to be God's dwelling place, and the dwelling of our soul 
is God, which is unmade." (Juliana of Norwich.) 
Jesus manifested the creed of Paul : 

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and 
through all, and in you all. Eph. iv., 6. 

Not only in his life and in his teachings, but in his works 
do we see the Almighty shining forth in this his Only Son ; 
that is, the only one who has, as yet, attained to oneness with 
the Father. After the conquest of his flesh, the subduing of 
the bodily powers, and the subjection of the mental life to 
the spirit; after he had begun to teach the word, and give 
forth the message entrusted to him from on High, we see 
unfolded the great psychic man, which is the natural step 
from the physical to the spiritual. First then a natural and 
simple life, obedience, prayer, fasting; the human will in 
perfect submission to the divine will; abounding faith, 
realization of the kingdom within; ability to know that 
angels were ministering unto him — listening for the Voice — 
speaking only what the Spirit saith, depending upon the 



202 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

strong arm of the Almighty, yet using every means at hand 
for doing good, seeing God in all things, but especially in his 
brother man, this was the Supreme Psychic. Jesus knew 
God and knew who were his brethren. 

For whosoever shall do the will of my Father 
which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and 
sister, and mother. Matt, xii., 50. 

Jesus knew what his mission was here below : 

I am come that they might have life, and that 
they might have it more abundantly. John x., 10. 

Unto this Son of God was given power over the elements. 
Did he not command the winds and waves ? 

Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the 
sea; and there was a great calm. Matt, vii., 26. 

Did he not feed the multitude? 

And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and 
gave thanks and brake them, and gave to his disciples 
and the disciples to the multitude. Matt, xv., 36. 

But not only did he feed the four thousand and the five 
thousand, he healed lepers, opened the eyes of the blind, made 
the dumb to speak, turned water into wine, cast out devils 
and brought the dead to life. Not once or twice, but constant- 
ly for years, was the unusual external psychic power of Jesus 
manifested. This same power belongs in a degree to all of 
the children of God. To those who had been with the Master, 
and followed closely in his footsteps, it came in great measure. 
Many of the disciples healed the sick and brought the dead 
to life ; but who among them displayed any amount of internal 
psychism? It is in the control of his interior powers that 
Jesus shows us that he is the Supreme Psychic of the world. 
Many can heal others ; to heal oneself is more difficult. In 
both the Old and New Testaments it is brought to our 
knowledge that men restored others to life ; who among them 
brought himself to life? The conquest of self, the perfect 
attunement of the physical, the psychical and the etheric 



THE SUPREME PSYCHIC 203 

bodies, the at-one-ment of the human and the divine, has 
never been plainly seen before or since the time of Jesus of 
Nazareth. He is unique in that he controlled not alone the 
forces of nature, but that he controlled his own soul-power. 
He made his spirit so dominate his fleshly wrap that he 
might be visible or invisible at will ; could walk on the water ; 
show his shining garments to those who had vision ; overcome 
death, and bring from the grave a body that could be seen or 
not, as he willed. A body which went through closed doors 
(as, indeed, does any etheric body), yet could walk beside 
men and speak and eat and be mistaken for a mortal man. 
After the conquest of the tomb, the Master shewed himself 
not alone to those who had the special gift of sight, but to the 
eleven, and then to a larger company. 

After that, he was seen of above five hundred 
brethren at once. I. Cor. xv., 6. 

Having finished his earth life, and manifested his power to 
transmute his fleshly wrap into a sublimated form; having 
shown his disciples and those who were ready for the truth 
what the human spirit is capable of when full-grown, Jesus 
let them see him leave the earth and be taken into the etheric 
plane. 

For forty days on earth 
He stayed, appearing many times to one 
Or more, in body of the Resurrection. 
Then, O wondrous light ! He grew more bright, 
More luminous, and floated upward out 
Of sight. 
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, 
he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right 
hand of God. Mark xvi,, 19. 

And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he 
lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 

And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he 
was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. 

Luke xxiv., 50, 51. 



204 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

Though gone from their sight, he did not leave them 
comfortless. 

I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you 
these things in the churches. I am the root and the 
offspring of David and the bright and morning star. 

Rev. xxii., 16. 



XXVI 
THE OLDEST RELIGION 

And the spirit of God moved upon the face of 
the waters. Gen. i., 2. 

But there is a spirit in man : and the inspiration 
of the Almighty giveth them understanding. 

Job xxxii., 8. 

" The first man was the first spiritual seer ; 
everything seemed to him spirit." Novalis. 



Spiritism is not a new cult ; it is, without doubt, the oldest 
religion in the world. It has been since the beginning, and 
will be until the end, the comfort and strength of all those 
who truly seek their source. 

God is a spirit : and they that worship him must 
worship him in spirit and in truth. John iv., 24. 
All that raises man above the beast is the spirit within 
him, striving, struggling, yearning to come in touch with the 
Spirit of God. It is not his intelligence that raises the human 
above the animal, for some animals are more intelligent than 
some men. Long before the savage man cares to cultivate 
his brain, his spirit cries out for his Creator. Just as gravity 
holds his physical form to mother earth, does another attrac- 
tion draw his spirit towards his Father in heaven. Whether 
he be a man of the forest who falls on his knees before the 
mysterious life in trees ; or a huntsman of the plains who, 
viewing the rising sun, is gladdened in his heart by the return 
of the glorious orb of day, towards which he stretches out 
his hands in thankfulness for its warm rays; or a shepherd, 
watching his flocks by night, who sees in the moon and stars 
wonders beyond his ken, who delights in the silvery moon- 

205 



206 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 
shine, or feels a special friendship for a guiding star, his life 
is being swayed by a religious feeling; his spirit is being 
enlarged and fed by coming into communion with the Spirit 
of the living God — which is in all things. 

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and 
through all, and in you all. Eph. iv., 6. 

The man who worships the spirit in a tree need not know 
forestry nor botany; he may not have a name for any of 
his feelings, but as there is a law that like attracts like, his 
spirit is attracted by the sap in the tree. Without being able 
to explain it, he sees in the tree, life — resurrection — reincar- 
nation — fruitage — death, which are progressively revealed to 
the spirit of the man who worships. This man's religion is 
spiritism. He who rejoices in the warmth and beauty of the 
sun, he who worships the life and light therein manifested, is 
a spiritist. For it is the spirit within him, not his mantle of 
clay, which perceives the something that is beyond his com- 
prehension. Likewise the one who worships the lesser lights, 
feeling awe and reverence, comes into communion with some 
part of the Spirit that moves all life. The orthodox creeds 
declare that God is omnipresent, yet those children of God 
who have felt him most in nature, who have yearned towards 
him through his works, and worshipped even his footstool, 
are by their learned brothers to-day called Pantheists. Paul 
saw the same God who is above all and in us all, through 
all, and David says : 

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the 
firmament showeth his handiwork. Ps. xix., I. 

The works of the Lord are great, sought out of 
all them that have pleasure therein. . . . 

He hath made his wonderful works to be remem- 
bered. Ps. cxi., 2, 4. 

Moreover, David calls upon even the works of the Almighty 
to praise him : 



THE OLDEST RELIGION 207 

Praise ye him, sun and moon ; praise him, all ye 
stars of light. . . . 

Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he 
commanded and they were created. 

Ps. cxlviii., 3, 5. 

From the beginning of man's life upon earth, long before 
he wrote on wood or stone, he thought about the Eternal 
Verities, and in this thinking he was directed by the Higher 
Powers. 

When man's life was freer and simpler he had more time 
to think about God. He lived in the open, and his only book 
was dame nature ; he had no newspapers or movies or prize- 
fights or football or parades to distract his attention from 
nature. Is it strange then, that this man meditated upon 
natural phenomena, and believed implicitly in what is called 
the " supernatural "? This was in the days before knowledge 
had entered in to obstruct the path to wisdom. Though 
what the poet says is true, that " Knowledge is material 
for wisdom to build with," yet the accumulation of much 
knowledge before wisdom comes, clogs the way and may 
obscure vision. 

The spirit of man was left free, to commune with the Spirit 
of God, in the childhood of the race, as it should always be in 
each child's life. Man, in the early days of earth-life did 
have, and children all should have, time to listen to the teach- 
ings of God's messengers from the Spirit World before they 
are too much instructed in worldly knowledge. " Tend the 
roots if careful of the branches " is a wise precaution. The 
roots of each human being are in the invisible world ; and 
from that world the soul needs to draw sustenance. Just as the 
bursting seed sends its roots deep into the breast of Mother 
Earth, finding in her warm, dark womb the nutriment needed 
for the individual plant, and must be given time to develop 
according to the law of its organism, so the child of God, 
whose body abides on earth for a while, should have the roots 



208 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

of its real nature planted deeply in the soil the soul requires. 
Children often see and hear the guardian angel who 
brought them to their earth parents. 

" Heaven lies about us in our infancy, 
Shades of the prison-house begin to close 

Upon the growing boy, 
But he beholds the light, and whence it flows 

He sees it in his joy." 

Before the vision fades and their eyes are turned from the 
shore, is it not well to let the children look for the fairies in 
the grass, listen for the rustling of angels' wings in the leaves, 
and worship the beauty of holiness in the earth that God has 
made? Let us listen to their prattle instead of correcting 
their statements, even if it should all be their imagination. 

A little child shall lead them. Isa. xi., 6. 

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little 
ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their 
angels do always behold the face of my Father 
which is in heaven. Matt, xviii., 10. 

It is because of too much instruction in material things, 
before the spirit has had time to recollect and connote the 
things which belong to " that imperial palace whence it came," 
that so many men become materialists, so many scientists 
have shortened sight. The natural man is a spiritist; his 
spirit, which spun his body out of the materials furnished by 
his human parents, needs food that it may grow apace with 
the new conditions imposed upon it. When strong, the spirit 
of man will shed light upon all that the brain acquires. Just 
as a body, when too gross, enslaves the intellect and retards 
the activity of the brain, so a mind too full of knowledge 
impedes the vibration of the soul. The threefold nature of 
man, the trinity of being, should unfold in natural sequence. 

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in 
Eden; and there he put the man whom he had 
formed. Gen. ii., 8. 



THE OLDEST RELIGION 209 

Man was placed in a garden not alone because of the need 
of his physical nature, nor for the development of his intellect, 
or his aesthetic sense, but that he might the better hear the 
Voice of God ; might the better evolve his spiritual powers 
and learn through nature to come into closer touch with his 
creator. As in the childhood of the race, so in each indi- 
vidual's childhood, it is well to have a garden, to live much 
in the open, and to learn to find God in his wondrous works. 

Not only in the dim days of the infancy of the race was 
man a spiritist, but in all countries, in all ages, we find seers 
and prophets. 

As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, 
which have been since the world began; 

Luke i., 70. 

These seers were often very lowly born, in the ways of the 
world all unversed, and sometimes wholly ignorant of the 
written word. Yet the word has power and is of deep 
significance. 

The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, 
and they are life. John vi., 63. 

Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my 
words shall not pass away. Mark xiii., 31. 

In China, and in India, many thousand years ago, spiritism 
was widely known and practised. In Egypt, before Abraham's 
day, there were books on psychic subjects that rival any we 
have to-day in the descriptions of the state of man in the 
world beyond the grave. There was also a universal belief 
in the power of the soul to return and communicate with 
friends still in the flesh. While systems of divination did not 
exist so early as in Egypt, yet in Persia and in Greece we find 
a firm belief in " intercommunication. " Dodona, an Egyptian 
seeress, who heard the voice of spirits in the rustling of the 
oak leaves, established an oracle in Greece that had lasting 
fame. The oracle at Delphi was consulted by the poets and 
philosophers of Greece as well as by kings and princes of 



210 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

other countries, for centuries. Here the voice of Apollo was 
heard through a priestess, a pythia, many of whom were 
ignorant peasant girls; yet their advice swayed the men of 
early days who firmly believed they talked with a god. In later 
times the oracles of Greece, as those of Egypt earlier, fell into 
the hands of priests, who, for pelf and prestige would keep 
the people ignorant. Then began the decline of those shrines, 
when men would barter the wisdom from Above for the gauds 
of earth. Plutarch, writing on the " Cessation of Oracles/' 
shows why they fell to naught. He believed in the ministry 
of angels, and was conscious of their help. Very many of 
the learned philosophers, poets, and orators, whom we call 
pagans, had an intimate relation with God and his holy 
angels, ministering spirits, whom Plotinus calls "the lesser 
gods." The psalmist agrees with this Greek philosopher. 

I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are 
children of the Most High. Ps. lxxxii., 6. 

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your 
law, I said, Ye are gods ? John x., 34. 

The ministers who do His pleasure were not exclusively 
messengers to the Hebrew people, nor did they wait for the 
Christian Dispensation to be helpful to man. 

The true Light which lighteth every man that 
cometh into the world. John i., 9. 

Which light was here and active before Abraham was called 
out of Ur. 

Before Abraham was, I am. John viii., 58. 

Yes, before Adam was placed in Eden. Nor has that 
light lessened in strength or in activity since the manifesta- 
tion in the flesh of the great Light, the one Isaiah prophesied 
concerning. And the angels who sang at His birth have 
been singing ever since, hoping that others besides the shep- 
herds of Judea would hear them. Also the legions of angels, 
of whom Jesus spoke, have been fighting for the right all 
down the ages, and are not yet through fighting. Even in the 



THE OLDEST RELIGION 211 

" Dark Ages " angels appeared not alone to cloistered nuns 
and spiritually-minded monks ; they fought with the armies 
who were striving to bring in a higher and better civilization. 
These warrior angels were seen by many heroes, most of 
whom knew nothing of church dogmas relative to guardian 
spirits, but who, in doing their best to help the right, were 
encouraged, and, if dying, were comforted by messengers 
from their Father in heaven. " The spirit world is, in fact, 
revealed to us : it is always open. Could we suddenly become 
as sensitive as is necessary, we should perceive ourselves to 
be in its midst. " Novalis. 

" It is evident that the miracle of one age may be the 
natural event of the succeeding." Robert Dale Owen. 



XXV 

THE FINAL RELIGION 

Being fruitful in every good work, and increasing 
in the knowledge of God. Col. i., 10. 

Let all your things be done with charity. 

I. Cor. xvi., 14. 

And whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely. Rev. xxii., 17. 



Spiritism is not only the oldest religion in the world, it is 
the final one; for it is the only one that finds man in the 
depths of his nature ; the only one that convinces him with- 
out a doubt that he is immortal; that his personality will 
exist beyond the change called death, that he will meet and 
know his loved ones gone Before, that " the far off country " 
is not very far, and that it is a real place, with real people, 
and that there are real things to do Over There throughout 
the ages. 

I go to prepare a place for you. 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will 
come again and receive you unto myself ; that 
where I am, there ye may be also. 

John xiv., 2, 3. 

Spiritism is the one religion that has points of contact with 
the other religions of this earth ; not alone those many isms 
that base their belief upon the Hebrew Scriptures or upon 
the Incarnation; but those primitive religions of the abor- 
iginal man, and those crystallized creeds of the learned 
" heathen." Those scriptures of the Orient which are 
deemed by us beautiful literature, but not yet recognized as 

212 



THE FINAL RELIGION 213 

parts of the Word of God, deep-dyed with the consciousness 
of the Overworld, full of illusions to the nearness of 
ministering spirits, and the intimate relation of those gone 
Before to those still struggling in the flesh; replete with 
directions for developing the spiritual nature of man, so that 
he will be conscious of his communion with God, are indeed 
a message from the Eternal. A deeper and more intimate 
knowledge of the spiritistic teachings of our Bible would 
materially aid the missionary who resigns the comforts of 
home to go to foreign lands to carry the New Revelation to 
those we deem in darkness. Many millions of God's children 
in the Orient, as well as many millions here in our own 
blessed land, are in darkness, or have very dim candle light 
on the subject most vital to their happiness and spiritual 
progress. It certainly behoves those torch bearers enlisted 
under the banner of the Great Light to inform themselves, 
not only respecting the teachings of their Master and the 
Scripture of his progenitors, but to study the scriptures of 
the people they would lead to the lamplight of Jesus the 
Christ, so as to find this one great point of contact — belief in 
the ministry of the spirits. We pray for peace, we sigh for 
unity, we spend millions of money every year trying to con- 
vert our brothers in other lands to our way of worshipping 
the Almighty. We tell them there is but one God and yet we 
admit a plurality by condemning the god they worship under 
a different name. If there is but one God, and he is a spirit, 
anyone worshipping in spirit and in truth must be calling on 
the same One — let him name that one Jehovah, Zeus, Deus, 
Dieu, Gott, or God. Before all peoples of the earth can 
receive the New Dispensation, can know and believe in the 
Almighty as revealed by that Son who was one with the 
Father, that Son that knew that the Father had sent him, we 
who would do the bidding of the Master, to carry his word 
into the dark places of the earth, must put ourselves in touch 
with the spiritual forces that surround us, the higher powers 



214 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

that helped Peter and Paul and Philip and John. We, who 
have been told, in the gospel, that there is one light that 
illuminates the mind of man and urges his spirit to come 
nearer to the Spirit of his Maker, wherever this man may be 
found; we, who understand that the Holy Spirit, which 
works such marvels under the Old Dispensation, comes now 
in fuller measure, should stop a moment and think what holy 
means. Is it not wholeness, entirety ? Is not the whole equal 
to the sum of all of its parts? Can anything live without 
some portion of God's Spirit which we say is everywhere? 
How much less then, can man, the child of God, exist without 
this Spirit — which is his life — whether he knows it or not — 
whether he calls it by the same name or not. The Spirit 
worketh as he wills. The test of the strength of the spirit in 
man is the work that he does. Believing, then, that the Holy 
Spirit is entire, and is working in the heart and mind of man 
to-day, as in Primaeval times, in the savage as well as in the 
savant, in the heathen as well as in the Christian, we shall 
believe that the sage of China, the seer of India, the prophets 
of Assyria, the priests of Egypt, the poets of Greece and of 
Rome, all had guardian angels whispering truth to them. All 
had wires connecting them with Central. Then, as we come 
to perceive that with God there can be no past, no future, only 
the present, or that in the circle of eternity, past, present, and 
future are one, it will be easy to see that now, as in times 
past, the Spirit is still speaking, the Word is still proceeding ; 
that because the Son has gone to the Father, greater manifes- 
tations of power may be expected and should come. 

He that believeth on me, the works that I do 
shall he do also ; and greater works than these shall 
he do : Because I go unto my Father. 

John xiv., 12. 

Having put our ear to the tube that reaches us, having 
made our connection with Central, let us believe that our 
brothers in other lands also connect with Central; that all 



THE FINAL RELIGION 215 

men have this privilege, for the kingdom of heaven is within 
man. After establishing our own connection with the world 
of Spirit, by going inside and listening, as did the prophets 
of old, the apostles and the saints, let us inquire what mes- 
sages from the Beyond have come to God's wise ones in other 
countries, those we would convert. Then, instead of saying, 
"All you know is wrong, all your worship is wicked; let 
us give you our religion, we must pull down your symbols 
and destroy your old-time beliefs ; this we must do, even if 
we know very little of what our own religion teaches and 
nothing at all of what yours teaches ; for we are sure we are 
right and you are wrong," we would strive to find a point 
of contact. But we are iconoclasts, forgetting that the 
Master said : 

I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Matt, v., 17. 
"We are bent on destroying your heathen creeds, your modes 
of worship, your false notions. You worship wood and stone; 
this we have been taught by our Sunday School teachers 
(some of whom worship pearls), and by our preachers, many 
of whom still worship the letter of the law. You heathen call 
upon your ancestors, when you go into your temples to pray ; 
yes, even pray to them to intercede for you." Oh, how wicked ! 
We, some of us, worship our children, never our ancestors, 
though we boast of their exploits and wear gold pins with 
their names thereon, and raise stone columns and graven 
images over their tombs. We do not leave lasting works of 
art, as did the Greeks over the ashes of their heroes ; no, we 
fill our cemeteries with hideous but expensive piles of stone 
and marble. We place the clay temple of our loved ones in 
caskets ornamented with precious metal, or worse, in metal 
caskets. We then say, "Dust to dust and ashes to ashes," 
without any meaning, for we have forgotten that Mother 
Earth rightly claims a part of us. We say we believe that our 
loved ones have "gone home to God" ; that they are in a bliss- 
ful heaven, yet we put on mourning, and grieve that they 



216 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

have the privilege of taking this wonderful journey before we 
do. Until we reform some of our worse than heathen ways, 
why criticize those we are trying to help ? "But ancestor wor- 
ship is so wicked, our missionaries must correct that." Yes, 
it is of importance that we learn to worship God only, for he 
is a jealous God. However, is not ancestor worship a step 
in advance of the worship of sun, moon, and stars? Is it not 
higher than the worship of money and jewels and houses, or 
even of temples of stone and statues on the altar and pictures 
of saints and images of metal? "Only the ignorant worship 
such things," you say. Yes, without doubt, but then, only 
the ignorant in other lands worship their ancestors ; commu- 
nicating with them, commemorating them is not worshipping 
them. Did Jesus worship Moses and Elijah because he 
talked with them on the Mount of Transfiguration? 

The divine seer of Patmos would have worshipped the 
angel who was giving him celestial vision, but when he knelt 
in adoration to the angelic presence, he heard the voice saying : 

See thou do it not : for I am thy fellow servant, 
and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them 
which keep the sayings of this book : worship God. 

Rev. xxii., 9. 

The angel who tells John that he was one of his brethren, 
might very easily have been one of his ancestors. John would 
have worshipped had he not been told by the angel to worship 
God. It is natural for man to worship that which is higher 
than himself. He is brought to a consciousness of the Highest 
in many ways; educated differently in the various climes; 
taught to find the Almighty as seemeth best to the Father who 
made him. If we would but note the points in which our 
revelation from God is similar to that of other revelations 
from God, and try to accent the likes rather than the differ- 
ences, it would hasten the time when all peoples of the earth 
will accord, for 



THE FINAL RELIGION 217 

God that made the world and all things therein. 

Hath made of one blood all nations of men for 
to dwell on all the face of the earth. 

Acts xvii., 24, 26. 

Universal peace is largely dependent upon universal 
brotherhood, which will be accepted when all acknowledge 
that light and life are from one and the same source. When 
all people learn to communicate with those gone Before, so 
that they have certitude regarding God and immortality, and 
know that their brother man is conscious on the other side 
of the veil, is interested in earth lite, and is striving to help 
those still struggling in the valley. When all children are 
taught that their guardian angels care for them, and grieve 
over their faults and mistakes, that they may talk to them 
and ask for help and guidance, it will materially assist in the 
ledge that all are God's children. 

When man is fully conscious that his thoughts are recorded 
on the ether, that they can be read by the angels now, and 
will be there to meet him when he departs this life, he will 
endeavour to guard his thoughts. When, by communing with 
those on the Other Side, we learn how important it is to make 
the most of our talents and opportunities, here and now; 
how necessary it is that we love one another, not only because 
the Master bids us to do so, but because our progress largely 
depends upon our attitude towards our brother man, we shall 
more quickly let go of our prejudices regarding race, nation, 
family, and social prestige. If all men could but believe that 
they are the sons of God, it would not be long before the brute 
in them would give place to the god. Then they would grow 
in grace and a desire to serve the King, their Father, and to 
be worthy of their inheritance. This state is being slowly 
brought about by education, by the wider reading of the 
Bible, by teaching and preaching, and by many altruistic 
societies, which are helping to better the material state of 



218 THE CLASSIC OF SPIRITISM 

man; but more quickly and surely would all differences of 
race and creed be settled and man come to recognize all men 
as brothers, if there were universal communication between 
man in this life and those in the Wider life. 

The unrest of the individual, of nations, of the world, is 
because of the excess of material appetite and greed. The 
way to peace is that of contact with the world of spirit "Over 
There." Before spiritism can become the final religion it 
must cease to be an ism. It must become inclusive, for it is 
the only religion that can include all others. Have not those 
gone Before gained the City of Zion, the Mount of God, by 
various paths ? Are not the spirits who are pressing about 
us, striving to help us up the hill, of many different lands 
and multiform creeds? Should we, therefore, say, The 
Hebrew Scriptures are inadequate? Or, because we fail to 
fulfil the prophecy of Jesus, that greater works than he did 
we should do, should we say the Christian Religion is a 
failure? Shall we condemn the orthodox churches of to-day 
because they shut their doors too tight to let in the sunshine 
of spiritism, preferring to worship by candlelight? Shall we 
say to those outside the churches, "You have no faith," 
when we see these children of God doing the things which the 
Apostle says are religion? 

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the 
Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in 
their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from 
the world. Jas. i., 27. 

No, we cannot afford to close the doors on any man, no 
matter what his creed or absence of creed. Spiritism can and 
must include all races, all creeds, all saints, ail sinners. The 
one thing that retards its growth, and will hamper its mes- 
sage, is narrowness. There has been much prejudice against 
the modern spiritualists, as well as much persecution of their 
forerunners. Let not those who have this torch use it for 



THE FINAL RELIGION 219 

destruction. Let them not repay evil with evil, but over- 
come evil with good. 

And, Oh, may those who have this great light not put a 
fence about their field and say, We only have the truth. 
God alone is Truth. Man can only have partial truths; his 
light is but broken rays of the Central Sun. 

For now we see thi ough a glass darkly : but then 
face to face: now I know in part; but then shall 
I know even as also I am known. 

I. Cor. xiii., 12. 

And as the one who, next to the Supreme Psychic, had 
greatest vision, says: 

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of 
heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto 
them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, 
and kindred, and tongue and people. Rev. xiv., 6. 

And a voice came out of the throne, saying, 
Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear 
him, both small and great. 

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multi- 
tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the 
voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia: for 
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth 

Rev. xix., 5, 6. 

AMEN 



INDEX 



Abraham, major psychic, 1.15 
28.36.44.141.200; his 
faith, 42.43; sees angels, 
59.80. no; talks to angels, 
158; trances, 170 
Adam, hears the Voice, 59 ; sees 

angel, 80 
iEschylus on dreams, 163 
Alfred the Great, sees St. Cuth- 
oert, 106; has prophetic 
dream, 165 
Ancestor worship, 215.216 
Angels, appear as men, 34. 80. 
84. no. 114. 116. 117- 161 . 
196; appearances de- 
scribed, 69.84. 112. 1 14 . 
118. 122; called lord, 69. 
80. in . 1 15. 141 146; 
name, 81 . 116; refuse 
name. S3 . in; supply 
strength, 52 . 114 
minister unto, 7.44.83.85. 
94- 95 "3 117. 1*1 • i^4. 
125. 141. 144. 210. 213; help 
in battle, 60.80.89.211; 
worship forbidden, 109. 
1 10. 1 17; speak to Jesus. 
85; as guardians, 120 

Astral body, 187. 190. 194. 195 
Augustine, Saint. 133.166: on 

miracles. 21 ; mentions 

trance, 170 
Aura, 169 

Automatic writing, 66; David 

does. 67; Mine. Guyr • 
Balaam, trances with eyes open, 

81 ; fame perennial, 170 
Barnabas, St., full of the Holy 

Ghost, 35 ; on hearing, 57 ; 

Epistle quoted, 57. 132 



Bede, St., Eccl. His., cited, 92. 
97. 117. 122. 165 

Bhagavad, Gita, 56 

Blake, William, sees fairy fun- 
eral, 22.23 

Browne, Sir Thomas, cited, 119. 
1J4. 162. 166. 168. 172. 180 

Buddha Gautama, 20 

Bunyan, John, 3.23; hears the 

Voice, 22; quoted, 126. 

133 

Caedmon, hears celestial music, 
74 ; writes by angelic dic- 
tation, 74 

Catholic Encyclopaedia cited, 
25. 157. 158. 168 

Clairsentience, 50 

Columba, St., opens doors mir- 
aculously, .95.96; mani- 
festation of light, 97 ; his 
spirit visits Oswald, 106; 
angel walks with, 122; 
taught by dreams, 163 

Commandments, of Moses, 46; 
of Jesus, 46.47 

Cumaean Sibyl., 20; invokes 
Anchises, 139 

Daniel, major psychic, 4 -3° ; 
his self restraint, 3.41.43; 
describes the appearance 
of angels, 52.61. 114; 
talks with Gabriel, 52. 
161 ; is touched by angel, 
30.51.52.169; reads writ- 
ing on wall, 65 ; interprets 
dreams, 160. 161; clair- 
voyant visions, 188 

Dante, trances, 21 ; calls Virgil 
Lord, 22 



221 



222 INDEX 

D'Arc, Jeanne, 24; example of 
super force, 96; super 
sign; giver, her, 107 

David, uses ephod, 16; employs 
a psychic, 17; fasts, 39; 
writes automatically, 64 ; 
hears super force in trees, 
91 ; calls men gods, 210 

Dematerialization, 93.94. 190 ; 
of Lazarus, body, 191 

Devil, 2.41 . 103 ; beautiful 
woman, so-called, 25.118; 
Robert Dale Owen on, 
136 . 137; Sir Thomas 
Browne on, 172; Jesus 
said to have had one, 172. 
176; cast out, 143.152 

Divination, 209; Joseph's cup, 
18.208; condemned, 26. 
172; Cicero on, 163 

Dreams, physiological interpre- 
tation of, 157; Hippo- 
crates, Hahnemann, Freud, 
Coriat, 157; factual and 
symbol ical , 1 59 . 1 60 . 1 63 ; 
prophetical, 166 ; false, 
162; God uses, 158.164; 
repeated, 159.163; inter- 
preted, 159. 160. 161 ; Job 
on, 157; St. Thomas 
Aquinas and Synesius on, 
158; Plato on, 163; Epi- 
menides taught by, 165; 
Pliny's disregard of, 164; 
Abercrombie and Goethe 
on, 166 

Dreamers, Solomon and Tasso, 
157; Abram and Abime- 
lech, 158; Laban and 
Jacob, 159.160; Joseph, 
18.160; Pharaoh, 159; 
Daniel, 160; Gideon, 160; 
^Sschylus, 163 ; Clytem- 
nestra and Atossa, 163; 
Scipio, 163; St. Columba, 
163; The Magi, 163; St. 
Joseph, 164; Calpurnia, 
164; Pilate's Wife, Mar- 
cus Aurelius, Eithne, and 
Archbishop Theodore, 165 ; 



two have the same dream, 
instances cited by Robert 
Dale Owen, 165; Alfred 
the Great and Osburgh, 
165 

Dunstan, St., his vision, 25; 
dark night, 118 

Ecstacy, 167; Ezekiel, 19.51. 
167; Paul, 168. 180. 184 
Elizabeth Barton, 171 

Elijah, touch by angel, 50.60. 
81; materializes, 11. 182; 
hears, 91 

Elisha, 72 ; by etheric sight sees 
chariot, 60 

Elisabeth, St, 21 ; prophesies, 
32.129 

Ephod used by Abiathar, 16; 
by Aaron, 17; by David, 
16; by Gideon and others, 
17 

Ether, thoughts recorded on, 
64.217 

Etheric body, 169. 187. 188. 192. 
195.202.203 

Evocation, of good or evil 
spirits, 136.137; of own 
spirit, 140.142; of Tire- 
sias, 139; of Anchises, 140 

Exorcizing, 176.180; Jesus 
way, 177; Paul uses, 178 

Ezekiel, major psychic, 19.29. 
30. 61. 69. 102. 127; tran- 
ces, 19; experiences levi- 
tation, 19. 51. 188; Kabil- 
istic lore. 29 

Faith, importance of, 42.62; 
help in psychic unfold- 
ment, 42.45; lack of, 43- 

93 

Fasting, helpful at times, 9. 
177; displeasing to God 
when wrongly used, 39; 
examples of Moses and 
Elijah, 38; David, Esther, 
Jesus, and disciples, 39; 
the prophetess Anna, 40 

Familiar spirits, Saul seeks, 
138; condemned, 172.173; 



INDEX 

Paul's treatment of, 178; 

not to be despised, 179 
Fox, George, 3.23.133 
Gabriel, archangel, appears to 

Daniel, 92; to Zacharias, 

81; to Mary, 82.189 
Gad, psychic consulted b y 

David, 16; used ephod, 17 
Gideon, 17; asks for a sign, 60. 

99; understood law of 

harmony, 89; led by a 

dream, 160 

Guyon, Mme., France's great 
psychic, 24 

Hagar, 15.45; talks with angel, 
59 

Hallucinations, 6 

Healing, mental, 146.153; 
physical, 148.153; spirit- 
ual, 149.165; by touch, 
by prayer. 147; 
by faith, 150. 151 ; by the 
will of God. 147; by the 
spoken word, 5J.IS0.I53J 
a look, 152; at a dis- 
tance, 150. 151; by natural 
remedies, 151. 155; of the 
land, 148; Jeremiah on, 
148; Isaiah on. 140.156; 
Juliana of Norwich on, 
.; St. James on, 155. 
156 

Hearing, 61.63; absence of, 

~ ; circumcised ears, 

Polycarp hears, 21 ; 

spirit of truth hears, 58; 

Isaiah hears, 61 

Jesus hears, 58.198.109 

Home, Daniel D., England's 
great psychic, 19; sitting 
at Naples, 20 

Homer, on evocation, 139; on 
dreams, 162 

Isaiah, has psychic touch, 49. 
51 ; God opens his ears, 
61 ; writes inspirationally. 
69.128; prophesies of 
John the Baptist, 181 

Jacob, wrestles with angel, 
109; dreams, 159. 



223 

Jeremiah, is touched on mouth, 
49; hears his guide, 57; 
dictates while in trance, 
68; has symbolic visions, 
102; condemns false 
prophets, 162 

Jerome, St., 132; on guardian 
angels, 124 

Jesus, the Supreme Psychic, 
28.42.197; fasts, 39-4i; 
prays, 37.38. 144. 191.203; 
inculcates prayer, 37; 44; 
called mad, 176; is trans- 
figured, 190 ; walks on the 
water, 93.190; raises Laz- 
arus, 192; comes through 
closed doors, 193.195; 
materializes, 184. 194. 195 

Job, cited, 14.72.86.88.97.126. 
205 ; on visions, 157 

John, St., the Baptist, 31; 
prophesied of by Isaiah, 
32.183; by Malachi, 181; 
points out the Messiah, 
33 ; is recognized by 
Jesus, 32; appears at 
Transfiguration, 182; Dis- 
ciples told who he is, 181. 
183 

John, St., of Beverley, recog- 
nised by Juliana, 185 

John, St., of the Cross, 3 

John, St., the Divine, major 
psychic. 35; his visions, 
62.70.188; hears angel 
fly, 62 ; sees angel fly, 219 ; 
on reincarnation, 11. 184; 
talks to Jesus, 35.185.203 

Joseph, divines, 18; interprets 
dreams, 2 

Juliana of Norwich, 23.24.201; 
on healing, 154; on re- 
birth, 185 

Joshua, 17.29.40.54.60; under- 
stands acoustics, 89.112. 
124 

Levitation. 51.176; of Ezekiel, 
19.188; of Peter, 43; of 
Jesus, 190. 191.203 

Lourdes, Bernadette of, 24.25. 
118 



224 



INDEX 



Maccabeus, Judas, 105.106 

Malachi, on spiritual influx, 

129 ; on healing, 155 ; on 

Elijah's second coming, 

181. 182 

Mary Magdalene, 84.177.178. 

192 
Mary of Nazareth, 33.82.129 
Materialization, roll, 64; fin- 
gers, 65; luminous hand, 
66; the plagues, 87; of 
Moses and Elijah, 185; of 
Jesus, 184.195 
Meditation in psychic develop- 
ment, 9.36.40 

Michael, Archangel, 85; prince 
of the Hebrew people, 122 

Moses, major psychic, 28.30.43 
127.142; phenomenal 
work, 17.29.54.87.88; 
impressionistic writer, 67; 
hears the Voice, 44.59. 
109 . 122 . 124 ; materializes, 
11. 183. 184 

Music, celestial, 74.78; stars 
sing, 72.7^1 angels heard, 
74.77.78.83; Caedmon 
hears angel, 74; St. Dun- 
stan, 75 ; Owini and Chad 
hear celestial choir, mod- 
ern instances, 76 

Noah, sign given to, 14.98; 
hears the Voice, 42.59 

Novalis, cited, 205.211 

Obsession, truth of, 172.180; 
treatment of, 152.177; 
dangers of, 171. 179. 180 

Opposition to spiritism, 5.13; 
of ignorance, 5.6; of 
science, 6.7; of ortho- 
doxy, 8; of Christian 
Science, 9 

Owen, Robert Dale, cited, 5.7. 

19 . 20 . 22 . 27 . 79 . 98 . 100 . 

136.137. 165. 180. 21 1 ; sees 

luminous hand, 66 
Paul, major psychic, 35.41 .53 . 

62.63.96.122.162; talks 

to Jesus, 11.34. 185; 



trances, 168; heals by a 
word, 153; cures posses- 
sion, 178.179; brings dead 
to life, 35 

Peter, major psychic, 8.33.41. 
63.143.144; raises the 
dead, 34; trances on house 
top, 9.34.168; rebuked 
for lack of faith, 37.43; 
delivered from prison by 
an angel, 95 ; heals by a 
look, 152 

Plato, The Republic, 14; on 
dreams, 163 

Pliny, his disregard of dreams, 
164 

P 1 o t i n u s calls spirits lesser 
gods, 210 

Possession, unchristian perse- 
cution of, 172.173; 
Christ's way of dealing 
with, 176. 177. 178; a par- 
tial good, 176.180; dan- 
gers of, 169.171.179.180 

Prayer, means of psychic de- 
velopment, 36.177; used 
by the prophets, 4.37.91. 
147; used by Jesus, 37. 
38.48. 144. 191 ; instruction 
regarding, 44.45.47.145 

Prophet who fails to obey 
guide, 18 

Prophets who prophesy falsely, 
18. 100. 162 

Psychics, four major, in Old 
Testament, 28: in New 
Testament. 31; Gad, 16; 
Samuel, 16.09; Ann- 
Catherine Emmerich. 108. 
171; Bernadette, 24.25. 
118; Mme. Guyon, 24; 
Hagar, 59; Hannah, 15. 
36; Juliana, of Norwich, 
23.24; St. Catherine of 
Sienna 108 ; Elizabeth 
Barton, 170; the Supreme, 
197 

Psychic waves, 1 ; of first cen- 
tury, 2 ; of to-day, 4 



INDEX 



225 



Psychography, 64; angels on 
the ether, 64.65; auto- 
matic, 66; impressionistic, 
67.69; inspirational, 69; 
things not to tie written. 
70; in the book of life 
and on the forehead, 71 

Quakers, 22.133.134 

Raphael, archangel, appears as 
a man, 116; refuses wor- 
ship, 117 

Reincarnation, mentioned by 
Virgil, 140; known to the 
prophets, 182; taught by 
Jesus, 181. 184. 185 

Samson, physical psychic, 15. 
90; his temperance, 40.41 

Samuel as a child, 9- 15-45; 

eats before giving psychic 

16*99; prophesies, 

*}; appears to Saul, 

U8 

Saul, troubled by evil spirit. 
128.169; consults woman 
of Endor, 138. 1 73 

Seers, same as prophets, 14.16. 
20 

Senses, how to develop higher, 
50; etheric, 60.6l.l88; 
psych "5.56.198; 

touch, 49.54; taste and 
1. 5556. 187; sight 
and hearing, 57.63. 1 

Sibyls, Cumaean, 20; Libyan 
and Pythian, 20; Dodon- 
209 

Slate- writing, 65.66 

Socrates hears th 14 

Solomon prays, fire from 
heaven, 91 

Spirits, invoked, 136; God's 

<ers, 934.I4 T ; 

thought to be evil, 137 • 

; of darkness, 169. 

familiar, 172.173. 

175.179 



Spiritism, finds man, 212; im- 
mortality made certain, 
185; oldest religion, 205; 
final religion, 212; must 
be inclusive, 218 

Spiritual body, 195 

Spiritualism, legislated against, 
12. 13. 136. 157; danger of 
narrowness, 214.219 

Stigmata given to St. Francis, 
to St. Catherine, and to 
St. Ann-Catherine, 180 

Super force, 86.97 

Superman, 109. 118. 143 

Supersigns, good or evil, 101 ; 
given to Moses, 101 ; to 
St. John the Baptist, 104; 
to Jeremiah, 102; to 
Isaiah, 51 ; to Zacharias, 
130; no sign given, 104; 
given by the Lord, 98. 
102; to St. John the 
Divine, 108 

Supreme Psychic, 28.52.197. 
204 

Swedenborg, talks to angel, 22; 
his infallibility, 22\ on 
danger of communication, 
134 

Theresa, St., spiritual birth, 3. 
166 

Tiresias invoked by Odysseus, 
139 

Tobias led by an angel, 9. 116. 
instructed by Raphael, 117 

Trance, conscious and uncon- 
scious, 165. 171. 180; semi- 
conscious, 24.176; with 
eyes open, 170; Ezekiel, 
19; Zechariah, 168; Peter, 
9. 167. 168; Paul in the 
Temple. 168; St. Augus- 
tine's mother, 21. 170; 
Holy Maid of Kent, mar- 
tyr to, 170; Ann-Cath- 
erine Emmerich, 171 

Urim, Aaron used, 17; Saul 
unsuccessful with, 17-173 



226 



INDEX 



Visions, conscious and subcon- 
scious, 161. 163. 166.168. 
169; in trance, 34.169; 
Joel on, 129.166; of 
Abram, 158; of Ezekiel, 
30.167; of Daniel, 61. 
114. 169; of Paul, 35.162, 
169 ; Judas Maccabeus, 
105; St. Columba, 163; of 
Tobias, 117; of Torgith, 
118; of Juliana of Nor- 
wich, 23. 166. 171; St. 
John, 35.219; at Antioch 
and Orleans, 107; at 
Mons, 107.108 

Water from the jawbone of an 
ass, 15; from a rock, 15. 
89; magnetized by angel, 
92; by a bishop, 92; 
turned to wine, 93; used 
in healing, 152; bidden to 
take that of life, 146.212 

Waters, divided by Moses, 87. 



, 17.92, 



88; by Elisha ; 
healed with salt, 17 
Wesley family, spirits dis- 
turbed, 96 

Witches and wizards, legisla- 
tion against, 172; Calvin, 
and Luther on, 174; per- 
secution of, 173; unwise 
treatment of, 174.175; 
the Master's way with, 
174.177 

Writing on the wall, 65; on 
David's hand, 64; on the 
ether, 64.217; of spirits 
heard, 66 

Zacharias, Gabriel appears to 
and gives sign, 31. 81. 104; 
prophesies, 130 

Zechariah, talks to angels, 115. 
123; hears angels talking 
to each other, 115; sees in 
vision, 122; trances, 168 



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